Journal of Sally Acorn
by Chris000
Summary: Out of the night, a mysterious ship filled with people from a different universe comes to Mobius. A shocked princess is intrigued by these people and decides to learn as much as she can about them. History has been changed, and she's along for the ride.
1. Entry 1: June 10th, 3234

**These journals written by Sally help explain things that will help explain what has happened in between the lines of Soldier's Log to Deception, a period spanning five years. It will really help if some of you are at least familiar with some of my other work, as some context will be applicable to what you are reading. You will see events through the eyes of Sally, a main character who doesn't get as much spotlight as she should. I have rectified this. Be advised, this is not the Archie comics you know, but a variation with different history, events and future. Buckle up, enjoy, and have fun reading!**

**-C.**

* * *

><p>Journal of Sally Acorn<p>

Date: June 10, 3234

Entry Made 1017 hours (10:17 AM)

Dear Journal,

I've gotten to know these Humans more in a few short days than I have in the entire library at the castle over the course of years. It's clear that our information was way out of date; Humans are so diverse in a way that books wouldn't do them any justice. Each is unique. Each has a different personality and reacts differently to stimuli. It's much like watching a biology play of sorts.

They're different than us, no doubt. They have different morals than Mobians and these cannot be ignored. They are a warring species. They have fought many battles in the past as the Mobians are well aware. Their history is stained with blood. The Crusades, the World Wars, the Oceanic Massacre; all of these are testament to their ruthlesness.

However, these entries were made in the 23rd Century when our ancestors arrived here. 900 years of missing context. It's inconceivable but it's true that Humanity has... changed in some way.

I've spent some time talking to them; they're all soldiers. They're cut off from their worlds. They claimed that Earth as they know it is still well off. This has to be impossible though. THIS is Earth. THIS is the result of Human tampering. The records support this. I guess I'll have to see it to believe it.

But what caused their 'change'? I talked to a woman named Heather Garth. She told me that 'a long time ago' (according to others, 700 years), there was some sort of war between Humans and an alien race. Humanity won. Barely. Their worlds were destroyed and they had to start all over, but they won. Incredible. If only the Humans here were so lucky...

Their military prowess is incredible though. They will make great allies against Robotnik. I've seen the ship! He won't stand a chance against a fully armed supercarrier! He'll finally back down! I hope.

Sonic has been a bit wary of these newcomers. He's expressed his concern to me a day or two ago, arguing the risk that Humans could harvest Mobius for their own needs. I countered that if Earth still existed, and if they had an empire of worlds, what would the point of conquoring Mobius be?

I also spoke with Tails regarding hostile alien life-forms. I have to say extraterrestrial threat prevention has not been highly considered among my people. We're peaceful. We want to prevent war and spread peace. We aren't fighters like the Humans.

Maybe that's why we need them.

::END ENTRY::


	2. Entry 2: June 11th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: June 11, 3234

Entry Made 1517 hours (3:17 PM)

Dear Journal,

I have just had the Humans officially assigned as my Protectors. I am a little bit annoyed by this action. I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself. I know some of their names. It's a little more difficult as some Humans insist on using rank as well. Egotistical people...

I know Private First Class Norman Hecks, who wasn't born on Earth. He comes from a planet far away from Earth called Draco II. He described it to me as an agricultural world with geothermal energy as an export! There's Privtae Hank Geri, who seems a bit excited for his job of protecting people. I guess some people really like what they do. Private Vere Kersiac is from a country on the Meditteranean. What was it? Croatia? Serbia? Slovenia? Somewhere around that area. Listening to him speak in his native language to his friend Roshenko is an interesting experience. I have never seen anybody speak in such a language in person. It sounded very much like Russian! But their leader has the royal mouthful. Lieutenant Christopher... that's the part I always forget. His name is difficult to remember. Venni... Ven... Vennett... he's Italian-American. He's from New York City, a place I always read about in the books. I made a bet with him that if Earth wasn't a polluted dump, we'd go to New York first.

I'm not willing to lose 100 dollars.

I'm just a bit embarassed that I just can't spell or remember the last name! I've always called him 'Lieutenant' whenever I saw him just so I didn't look like a total dunce and appear that I didn't care.

Just to be clear: I have no reason to trust this Human. I don't nearly know him well enough to lay my life in his hands. Unfortunately that's what the job description says that's what he's supposed to do.

I wonder if I may find myself at the Pearly Gates sooner than I expected. Guess that's karma for you. I've been running around since I was a kid and now I'm paying for it...

Now, the next piece of information is shocking, but I have to let it be known: I allowed the Lieutenant to take Tails into space on one of their craft. It was a stupid move on my part. So, why did I do it? I guess it was Tails. He always wanted to know so much about space and here was his chance to go into the Black Beyond. How could I say no to him? What's worse, I heard that there was a battle upstairs!

I have to call in! I have to make sure they're alright. I don't want to fish Tails' body out of the void.

::END ENTRY::


	3. Entry 3: June 16th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: June 16, 3234

Entry Made 1420 hours (2:20 PM)

Dear Journal,

I've just seen the photos of the camp. They've put out whatever fires were left. I can't believe what just happened. Three hundred people were killed in a single attack. The lucky ones were vaporized. The unlucky ones suffered slow, painful deaths. It... it was the worst experience I've ever had in my life.

I've seen people die before, but this was something beyond horror. Their lives were over in a flash of light. It's horrible.

It's war.

I've heard stories from my father when he was in the war fifteen years ago. I was only a little girl then, so I wasn't prepared for the horrors of combat.

Robotnik was the cause of this. He's the reason that three hundred people are dead! My people, Humans; it doesn't matter. A corpse is a corpse. But now I'm thinking... who does the blame really lie on? The Humans; the people who have exposed the darker side to Doctor Robotnik? Or was it us; the ones who should have improved the way we fought when we had the chance?

I don't know right now. I'm still trying to process what happened really.

Two of my Protectors died that day. Geri was partially flash-vaporized. It was quick I think, but I don't think it was painless for him. But... but it's Vere that I think back to. It was he who protected me! He... saved my life. I... I never got to thank him. Or maybe I didn't want to.

Everyone I knew survived. Sonic got the rest of the Freedom Fighters away from the Fort safely. Some of the Humans made it alright too. I wasn't sure the Lieutenant was taking it well.

First Lieutenant Christopher James Vennettilli. Finally got it.

He was taking it hard. First he loses his men, and then he takes a bullet in the kneecap. He went down screaming; it took two Marines to restrain him while a medic removed the bullet. I don't think I heard anybody scream that loud since I saw a roboticization. Bullet in the kneecap. Wouldn't want to trade places.

It was also that time I learned something about this man: He lost his parents when he was young. He lost them when he was 16. That was almost six years ago. He shook me off though... after I... insulted him.

I know what I said at the time was immature and bigoted. I criticized his role as a Marine. I insinuated that he was nothing but targets for the cannons. Now I feel terrible because I know they had lives of their own.

I talked to Sonic. He agrees that what I said was a bit unjustified; but he also informed me of Tails' status. He was injured by an explosion. According to Sonic, Tails was tossed twenty feet and struck a cargo container. It was only plastic, but he recieved a laceration and a damaged vertibrae. He's onboard the _Indomitable_ recieveing treatment. I also talked to Lieutenant Commander Okawa, the Chief Medical Officer aboard the ship. She ensures me that the kid's going to make a full recovery within a day or so.

Now, I have nothing on my mind but the feeling of payback. Easy Sal. You'll get your chance soon...

Soon...

::END ENTRY::


	4. Entry 4: June 20th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: June 20, 3234

Entry Made 1823 (6:23 PM)

Forget what I said in the last entry; this was the scariest day of my life. There was no combat, no death; I saw Earth for the first time.

I am not sure what people are supposed to think or say when they see their ancestral homeland. What rose in my chest was something of pride, and moreso, it was the thought that we were wrong. Many of us thought that we originated on Mobius (I never believed this), and seeing Earth reinforced my belief. It was exactly as the Humans said.

I understand that this is another universe entirely where Earth has survived. The Xorda never attacked this planet. Apparently, the Xorda don't even exist here. Humanity had fought an alien race called the Covenant 700 years ago. They did a number on Earth.

But this was a long time ago. The Earth I saw was rebuilt. Buildings shot for kilometers into the air. Clouds had to find their way around the structures, and flying cars travelled in orderly lines. Advertisements and television screens were everywhere.*

I think I'm suffering from sensory overload. How can people live like this? There's so much action, so much to do! It boggles my mind. Maybe that's the point. Maybe because I never grew up with all of this technology I feel so small.

I felt small as soon as I saw the Earth.

But why am I afraid? Sonic has run off! He's run off into the city! I don't know why he did what he did, but this is a great mistake. People here probably will react more to our presence than any other race they've seen. We aren't aliens, we're genetically altered animals! That'll cause much more of a backlash than anything!**

I've gotten in front of people. I've had to explain everything to a group of reporters who have asked questions. I had to answer them - in a dress! I hate wearing dresses at the best of times, even for diplomatic purposes!

For God's sake, Sonic! Why did you have to run off? He made things so much more difficult for me! I had awkward questions based on mutations and reproduction! As if I'd actually answer that! I have no idea how we're compatable in the first place!

The Lieutenant was angry. I think he really wanted to strangle Sonic.

I severely hope that's not the case. The Lieutenant has had outbursts of anger. I cannot allow him to get out of control. I understand his history hasn't been the best, but I have to assert that I am the one in control, no matter whether it's a military matter or not.

To close this entry, we're formulating a plan with the Admiral. We know Robotnik is on Earth somewhere, but we don't know where. I know Tails though. He'll find some resources. Actually, I've requested information from the Indomitable for sensor information centers in orbit. They gave me a name: the UNSC _Avogadro_, a science vessel. I'll order Vennettilli and Tails up there right away.

My father once told me to use every resoruce you can get your eyes on. I intend to make him proud of me.

::END ENTRY::

* * *

><p><strong>*Picture Earth as something of a <em>Fifth Element<em> style place; think Coruscant from Star Wars, except with smaller skyscrapers. Not the whole planet, but there are big cities everywhere. **

****The announcement DID cause backlash as seen in Soldier's Log, Chapter 16.**


	5. Entry 5: June 23rd, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: June 23, 3234

Entry Made 1816 (6:16 PM)

Dear Journal,

Hecks died yesterday.

It was a death I think most of us would choose to avoid. We found Robotnik's ship hiding in the Caribbean under a cloaking shade. The UN patrol boats didn't see it and were afraid to enter into the so-called Bermuda Triangle. Long-held superstitions die hard.

It wasn't a painless death for Norman. I think, maybe, that it would be one of the worst deaths that one could be subjected to. We were aboard the ship, and we had made it all the way into the reactor core room where the drive manifolds connected with the main engines. The Lieutenant ordered Norman and a few ODSTs to check out the core.

That's when Robotnik locked them in and opened the core shield.

They were poisoned by the radiation. It was invisible, but they felt every inch, felt the pain as the energy flowed through their skin. They screamed, they clawed, they cried, and eventually, they fell and stopped moving.

I didn't get a chance to pay my respects, as the Lieutenant ordered me to follow him; we were getting out early. The bodies of those men had a private cremation as we breached the core with explosives planted by the ODSTs. He deserved better.

I remember running. Something grabbed onto my shoulder, and I saw a blade heading for my throat. That's when the Human came. Vennettilli saved my life, and promised that as long as he was around, he would protect me, and anybody who was with me.

I'm glad Sonic didn't hear that.

Sonic shared more of his issues with Vennettilli. I think, unless I am mistaken, Sonic feels threatened by the Human. Why? We're on the same side, aren't we?

Unless, it's a misunderstanding of... _me_.

It's too soon for that sort of thinking! This is crazy talk! He's a Human, and a Marine! He's killed more men than I've seen in my entire life!

I have to relax though. I need to get my blood pressure down. There was an explosion shortly after we escaped. The Egg Cruiser detonated, leaving no trace of evidence. We were stranded on our downed Pelican. I asked the Lieutenant to tell me a story. A few days ago, he had opened up more about his parents. He's half-Italian, half-Irish! What a combination! I bet they're both in the mobs!

Sorry. I'm just trying to brighten things up. He told me about his parents, how they died (this seems to be something of a psychological issue for him. I could contact Doctor Clementine and speak to her, but I don't know if that's necessary at this time), and about his time in the war.

I've loved stories since I was a little girl. We don't have much war around here, so no stories of that sort. I think I can remember the Great War back in '20, but that's about it. He fought on a planet called Talahan V, a corporate mining world-turned rebel base camp. According to him, the planet is 20 light years from Earth. He talks about it as if it was right on his doorstep. I have to remind myself though that Humans, with advanced interstellar flight have indeed brought the stars to their doorsteps.

Talahan is a jungle world/swamp/warm tundra. Humidity sounds terrible. I couldn't bear to get my hair frizzy. That isn't the priss inside of me; it takes FOREVER to take care of frizzy hair from humidity.

By the time I am writing this journal, I have heard another tale from the Lieutenant: he told me about the woman he used to love. He's...21, and she was roughly the same name. Her name was Michelle Anderson. When the Human came back from war, she had married another man. It destroyed Vennettilli, so he left, never to return. According to what I heard, Anderson was killed by her drunken husband.

What a waste.

You know, I think I'm starting to take it back about this guy. I mean, he's had a hard life, yes, but he's still sane (more or less), and he still knows he has a purpose in life. Good for him! I guess I should see how Venn... I should see how _Christopher_ is doing. The Indomitable makes orbit in three hours and everybody's off!

::END ENTRY::


	6. Entry 6: June 25th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: June 25, 3234

Entry Made 1453 (2:53 PM)

Dear Journal,

It's finally happened. I never thought that it would have happened in my lifetime, in any lifetime of my people. Today, a group of ships arrived through the jumpgate. Ten different types, but I understood the name of one, the _Senator_

It was a delegation fleet. A collection of races from the other universe! They were here to welcome us into a family!

I saw the ships (or their transports) come down one by one, descending into the atmosphere, touching down kilometers from the city. Transports came and delivered people of many types to the castle. I only saw a few of them. Large, small, ones that spoke gibberish, and some who even spoke English. Of course, I was called away before anything else could be observed.

It was Shadow.

Some of the Marines on guard duty apprehended Shadow the Hedgehog amazingly. Lieutenant Vennettilli shot him. Shot? I think that was a bit extreme! Thankfully, the bullet only grazed Shadow's leg, but it was enough for him to stumble and get tackled under fifteen Humans. I think they acted a bit harshly. They didn't need to shoot him. I think that they might have been able to talk him down. Of course, he _did_ steal a gun and pointed it at an armed Human. I think that might warrant a tackle.

For the next three hours, I was watching the entire thing from the sidelines. I have to say that I didn't know how to react to the ceremony. I met three of the representatives. The Human was Admiral Blake Jeromi. After hearing some interesting things from the crew, I looked into his career. Admiral Jeromi was charged for the destruction of a shuttle and endangering his crew. The charges didn't stick though and the Judge Advocate had to let him go. Ever since then, he's been under scrutiny from his fellow officers.

The others had names I couldn't pronounce. One was eight feet high, had mandibles, and wore bright gold armor. The last spoke perfect English, but had about five or six names. Forget it.

The day would have been perfect, if it weren't for the fact that the Human got his butt kicked by Shadow. I was called down to the dungeon where Christopher was interrogating Shadow for any information. According to what Christopher told me, Shadow leapt across the table, grabbed his throat, and slammed him into the ground, then the fight really began. I think Shadow had an outburst. For what reason, I am not sure yet*.

I'm writing this journal in the hospital where the Human has to have his arm repaired and blood cloned using technology from the ship. Shadow snapped his humerus in two. In truth, I'm surprised the Lieutenant is alive at all.

I just don't see how Shadow could have attacked in the first place. Why? It couldn't have been an outburst. He had to have been provoked. But how, and more importantly, _why_?

I should think about this later. I need to sit down.

::END ENTRY::

* * *

><p><strong>*Chris actually goaded Shadow into attacking him, as seen in Soldier's Log, Chapter 19.<strong>


	7. Entry 7: July 4th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: July 4, 3234

Entry Made 0700 hours (7:00 AM)

Dear Journal,

Happy birthday to me! I turn 20 today!* All of the things I can do, the respect now that I am hitting the big two-oh! I'm writing this journal from a hospital bed aboard a ship called the _Hippocratic Oath_ in orbit around Mobius. The _Oath_ was part of a battle group that was with us on our last mission. I was asked not to make any logs on the subject in case this was stolen.

Security measures are in place after the mission. Robotnik isn't dead. He escaped through some sort of teleportation or something. The report had something about a theory as to how he may have accomplished this, but I don't think the Admiralty will think very highly on speculation.

There were casualties going in. Of the insertion team of around a full platoon of fifty men, around twenty of us made it out alive. Off the top of my head that's a sixty percent loss. We did encounter a squad of ODSTs and a Mobian team met up with us led by Master Sergeant David Urso. Urso was killed... _graphically_ through some unknown means of Chaos-siphoned weaponry.

It was a learning experience for the Humans. They saw roboticization for the first time. An ODST team was captured by the doctor and forced to endure it. We assumed that they're dead now. There's no way they could be alive after we nuked that thing.

I can't say anymore about the mission. I'm breaching enough security as is with the information that I've already written.

Tails is in the bunk next to mine. He's been rolling around. Poor guy has burns all over his body. They're not severe, but he's been edgy over them. He also seems to have a hairline fracture along his ribs. I think he just has to stay the night.

_I_ have advanced radiation poisoning. I need to go through a procedure where an antigen will be distributed into my bloodstream. The doctors don't know how long it will take. Sonic has a grenade wound. Painful. Some of the Humans had problems too. The ODST Sergeant named Callard, had a Grade 2 concussion, Bishop had radiation poisoning. Christopher had microwave burns after our encounter with a few SWATbots. Nasty. More or less though, he's all right.

I've... also been shot.

It was a feeling I don't think I can describe until another person has experienced it, and I think it's different depending on who's being shot. When the bullet hit me, all I could feel was the wind being knocked out of me. When I lifted my head up, I saw the blood, and I immediately fell into shock. I didn't even feel any pain. It was after when I was up and about I felt the burning sensation that was with me with every step I took. The wound will disappear, but I'll always know what happened to me. Nobody else has to know.

You know what, I finally have something in common with the Lieutenant.

Sonic came to my bed earlier today. He had a card that he got from, what else, a gift shop on the craft. I guess the crewmembers are allowed to buy things for themselves on these ships, a microcosm of commerce. Impressive.

It was very nice of him. I know he cares a lot. I didn't tell any of the Humans what today was. Now I sort of feel bad.

Gotta keep a positive attitude. How else am I going to try to get rid of the death and the guilt? One of the Marines, Taikof, who died on the ship, told me that guilt was normal. It was living with the guilt and death that kept him awake at night.

What have I gotten myself into?

::END ENTRY::

* * *

><p><strong>This entire entry refers to an assault on Robotnik's Flying Factory in Soldier's Log Chapters 22-30. Sally was not able to write about it as it was a classified operation for both races. <strong>

***Sally is in fact 20. In this universe, the characters have been aged up a bit more so they can act more maturely and participate in legal combat, as well as recreational activities. By the time we catch up to the in-comic date, 3237, Sally will be around 23, six years older than her Archie version. **


	8. Entry 8: July 10th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: July 10, 3234

Entry Made 1412 (2:12 PM)

Dear Journal,

I've decided to take a vacation. It was the best decision I've made in quite a few days. I need to get away and think about what's been happening. I've decided I need to explore this new Universe. I need to familiarize myself with a whole new world of existence. I have to take advantage of the Humans' technology and go somewhere. They have the knowledge, and they have the speed.

I've gotten the guys together and asked my parents if they could convince a frigate to act as a transport for me. It does feel a bit egotistical. A whole ship just for me, just for vacation time?

The crew was very nice. Commander Noah Goldberg was very happy to have me onboard. He said that no matter what I looked like on the outside, the crew would be excited that they would be carrying royalty somewhere.

The Frigate, called the , brought us around some parts of Human space in a matter of days, courtesy of their military-grade Slipstream Drives. We will stay only about a week or so on some worlds. I have already been to a planet called Reach very close to Earth. It was a place rich in Hungarian ancestry, but I was unable to speak or understand them. As I write this, I am in a country house outside of a large city called New Viségrad.* The city looks beautiful.

I saw a statue in the city of a very old event. Many years ago, this planet had fallen in the war. Its surface boiled as surface was smothered with plasma. I don't know; I see a rich world with green plants and crystal clear water. It's a young planet, only about a billion years old. I can tell by the mountains. They will rise and fall on their own.

We've been in Viségrad a few times. Reachian silk scarves are some of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It looks like water, but it has the warmth of wool. The marketplace here is amazing. Such culture, so familiar and alien at the same time.

Miles has been at the local university trying to gain knowledge about the planet and its geological history. A gigantic asteroid once struck this world seventy million years ago, creating a huge crater that can be seen all the way from the moons.

And speaking of moons, this place has two moons, and one of them has rings! A moon with rings!** Isn't it amazing? They have Hungarian names, so I won't even try to pronounce them.

Sonic ran off a day or two ago going to explore the planet. He's not comfortable just yet with the 27 hour day. He could be halfway to the Viery territory by now. I'm already having plans on where to go next. It's a planet called Mariposa. Sounds inviting.

I've been asked a bunch of questions here as well by people on the street, children, aliens... _holy moley_ is this sensory overload or what? I've also been asked by a professor if I could explain to exosociology grad students how our culture works. Do I LOOK like I have a PhD?

Anyway, I have to get moving. Me and Amy are taking a walk down to Riverside Plaza where we're going to just watch the shuttles come in across the bay. It's a beautiful day and I'm intending to enjoy it!

::END ENTRY::

* * *

><p><strong>* Almost every name of a city you are hearing here is a reference to Halo: Reach which was glassed in 2552, roughly seven hundred years before this series takes place. <strong>

****The moon with rings part is interesting because Mobius' moon has shattered, and even in _Deception_, you'll hear about how rings are starting to form around it. **


	9. Entry 9: July 21st, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: July 21, 3234

Entry Made 1643 (4:43 PM)

Dear Journal,

Well, bad news, the needs to head back to Earth right now. Apparently while we were en route to a gas giant named Loomis, we passed through a nebula with a very strong magnetic field. The field apparently short-circuited our deflector field array, making us vulnerable to high-speed interstellar debris. What I think this means is that the thing that makes sure we're not turned into Swiss cheese by space junk just went offline. Well, I'm making a mountain out of a molehill; the thing isn't offline, but it took a beating. The engineers want it back in the space docks so that they can swap it out. It'll take about two weeks for this thing to be replaced. Commander Goldberg offered to have another ship take me around, but I told him that I'd happily wait it out.

The ride home was a bit bumpier than usual, and a compartment was ruptured. Thankfully it was a small leak, but I can easily imagine what would happen with something bigger. Tails took this time to study the engine's fusion reaction. He's found them so exciting and even talked about putting in a request to get some of the engines sent back to Mobius!

Sonic's getting bored. We had to lower our velocity so it'll take about three days to get back to Earth. He's getting cabin fever! I have to hold my hand over my mouth to stop the giggling as he starts moaning and complaining about everything in the rooms like _'why is the mirror so small'_, _'why can't I call room service'_, and my favorite of all, _'do they really shoot that stuff into outer space?'_. Sorry, you had to be there to understand that one.

I saw the spaceyards for the first time. They looked more like a cage than a factory. Ships went inside these things and men in suits climbed all over the hull taking things off and putting them back in. Apparently the ship had to be restocked for ammunition as well. Commander Goldberg says that we had a run-in with some asteroids that needed to be blasted apart.

Hmm.

It also gave me a chance to see Knuckles and Lieutenant Vennettilli who were stuck in Mexico watching the Master Emerald. For the last week two and a half weeks they have been stuck under a Mayan Pyramid trying to make sure that Robotnik doesn't steal that Emerald. That worries me. We had to move the most powerful thing on our planet to a very inconspicuous location. _Why_ does that worry me? What will happen? Will this be the first place he looks? What if someone gets hurt, or what if something happens on the site? The Master Emerald helps keep the other ones in check. I guess I'm just paranoid.

Speaking of paranoia, Knuckles seems to have transitioned well to the Mayan temple. He's real protective of the Emerald and won't even let Christopher near it unless he holds his hand for God's sake. The Lieutenant is all right; he has really been taking in the environment and history. He's been able to go to temples around his, checking out the insides and trying to read the ancient text with aid from computers. He's got a thing for history. I guess this is how he can remember dates from hundreds of years back; or is that common knowledge?

They're effectively cut off from the rest of the world with the exception of a hauler that comes by every now and then to refresh their supplies and dropped off additional troops one time. I think Vennettilli was happy to see some Human company. I think it's justified: Knuckles isn't exactly the easiest person to get along with.

We've spent time around the temple. It was Tails who was astounded with the ancient architecture. Mayan ruins on Mobius were less preserved with more weather damage and erosion. The Humans apparently have found a way to preserve their manmade wonders indefinitely. Hmm, sounds useful.

At the time of this entry, we have another day in the temple and then we're out on the _St. Augustine_. Next stop is going to be Threshold, a planet that has been infamous in Human history to have an alien Niven Ring in orbit around it. Not to be disrespectful, but this camp is not the best place to live in, and the beds are as soft as stone slabs. My spine will suffer in twenty years.

Sonic's been playing a rendition of basketball in these ancient sport arenas, and has constantly challenged the Human to one-on-one. Christopher lost three times and locked himself in his room, muttering expletives under his breath.*

Glad one of us is enjoying themselves here.

::END ENTRY::

* * *

><p><strong>*Chris and Knuckles are in a real pyramid called <em>Monte Alban<em>, an old Mayan temple in Southern Mexico that has been designated a 'Restoration Area' by the local government. **


	10. Entry 10: July 28th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: July 28, 3234

Entry Made 0115 (1:15 AM)

Dear Journal,

Disturbing news from back home and I can't do anything about it. I didn't want to wake the guys because I don't think this needs to reach many ears. Three days ago (accounting for message travel time) a message was sent from Mobius. There was a murder. Now normally, a murder wouldn't worry me all that much, but the part that I'm concerned about was that it didn't occur on Mobius at all.

It happened on Earth.

I've read the report, Trevor T. Grovewood (often going by Trevor the Labrador) was found dead outside a Chicago spaceport with two bullet wounds in his upper torso. Witnesses say that a car drove past, a man stuck his head out, scanned the crowd, and shot. Doctors believe that he spent a couple seconds in shock before passing out. The Police are almost certain that a Human was the one behind it. I should have seen this coming a long time ago. With the appearance of a new race, the Humans have been somewhat skittish towards us. I have consulted with the ship's resident psychiatrist; Doctor Yevgenny and he explained that xenophobic people might act irrationally towards something very close to them that has changed. I see exactly what he means. Mobians aren't truly aliens, not really; we're anthropomorphic animals. Earth animals. The fact that we are so close in cosmetic looks to these creatures frightens some Humans and has made a few of them snap. It was just one murder, but the racism has to start somewhere and when one murderer gets the courage to pull the trigger, another one will follow.

How many more are marching up to the firing squad?

What are these Humans going to do to us?

In my review of other cultures that have been subject to racism in Earth history, I found several recurring themes: targets are usually female, they are usually badly hurt in both a physical and pride sense, and afterwards, are likely killed.

This is a bump in the road to a better friendship. The first chance I get, I'm going to talk to mom and dad. I've got to top this before it gets worse. Now I'm glad I'm on vacation. Kappa Phi d is around two more days away. I have yet to see the rolling plains of Agatholla that people on the ship talk about, and when the moons rise at around midnight, the overlapping glow turns the ocean silver!

::END ENTRY::


	11. Entry 11: August 1st, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: August 1, 3234

Entry Made 0843 (8:43 AM)

Dear Journal,

The _St Augustine_ encountered a rare phenomenon today. We had the fortune of witnessing a supernova from a planet called Borkhovst, a Russian wildlife preserve. The star, Designated... what was it... Let me get my notes... Here it is. HD 251782+B6541* was a red supergiant star that was at the end of its life where its core had stopped the crucial fusion reaction holding the untold quadrillions of solar mass above it. The star collapsed onto itself and exploded. I was able to see it on the bridge with the Commander standing proudly, hands behind his back. According to what I've read, a supernova occurs once every century in the galaxy and is very beautiful to see. Unfortunately (or should I think the opposite), no supernovae have ever occurred within ten thousand light years of Earth.

HD 251782 - screw it, _THIS STAR_ was over seventy thousand lightyears* away from us, meaning that when this explosion actually took place, mankind (even on Mobius) was within the Earth's icy clutches of the ice age.

The photos of the explosion were beautiful. Colors of different elements were flying in every direction. Oxygen, Gold, Carbon, it was a _periodic ballet_ - to use a term that Tails would find entrancing.

It's odd. This is a power that can kill. The explosion itself goes without saying; it's an explosion. That's what they do. What I'm talking about is the radiation and energy given off. Any planets in the immediate vicinity of the dying star would be sterilized if not vaporized. Aliens DO exist. What if a poor race of creatures lived on one of those worlds, futily braving the fires of destruction? What if they were so close to leaving their home solar systems but were kicked into oblivion at the last second? It's a sad thought in the grand scheme of things, but I look to see how many races there are that have survived. Humans, the Sangheili, the Lyshad... that's all I can remember right now. Sorry, but I can't seem to remember the others at this time.

I've been told a similar fate will befall earth in about five billion years. The sun will eventually swell up and destroy the inner star system. It won't be a supernova, but all the same, deadly. By that time, Humanity should get well enough away from Earth.

I hope.

What if the same thing happens to Mobius? We have no friends in our skies, and we certainly have enemies. Will there be anybody to protect us if a gamma wave burst flies across the heavens? Will Mobius become another sterilized rock?

Stop thinking about it! It's an astronomical chance. Heh, astronomical. I see what I did there**.

I even got Sonic to look at it. We spent time together on the observation deck. He seemed to enjoy the colors of the aurorae borealis of the planet very much. Normally he isn't a space guy, but he seemed to lighten up as we continued our orbit around the planet. We had a romantic evening, complete with a special dinner from the ship's cook. His name was Ronaldo, and he was an excellent chef, worthy of any five-star restaurant. I wonder how he found himself on a frigate in middle of nowhere.

Nearly a month on this ship and I feel like I know everyone. I know the ensigns, Courtney Yelts and Ichabod Olsen, who like to go on a stroll of Deck 9 when they're off duty every other day; Commander Goldberg likes to play Solitaire, and Tech Major Positano, who has a habit of humming along with the fusion manifolds. He also likes the color pink.

I don't judge.

Sonic's adjusting to ship life, but now Amy's suffering from Cabin fever! She wanted a livelier atmosphere and asked me if we could head back to Earth. I explained to her yesterday that we were about five hundred light years from Earth. It would take a few days to get back. Needless to say, she wasn't happy. I consulted the charts and I found a planet in another civilization that we could check out. They're called the Alydes! There's another one!

Alydes are a curious race that have adapted to low light worlds and are extremely picky on where they live. I think it seems like a neat place to visit. Sonic disagrees. I argued that if he didn't like it, he could stay on the ship and play Solitaire with Commander Goldberg.

I got him moving. He's as fast as his reputation makes him out to be.

While I'm not quite getting the space crazies, I am missing Mobius. I talk to Mom and Dad often, and sometimes Christopher and Knuckles back on Earth, but I'm all alone in this big bad part of the universe. I've checked the areas all around us. There are no ships besides us in ten light years. Just to clarify how large ONE light year is, let's say Mobius is the size of a pea. A light year would be somewhere about the orbit of Saturn! These are terms we can understand! Magnify it, and you'll have a pretty large distance!

Commander Goldberg says that we're due for a crew rotation in two weeks at Arcturus. We can head there; get some shore leave, give Sonic a place to run around, and get some more knowledge of the place. Oh, and while we're on the subject of Shore Leave, Amy has been obtaining 'souvenirs' on every civilized planet we go to. Last week, we brought aboard two ornate ball dresses that would calculate to around two thousand Mobian Dollars! Two weeks ago, she bought three pairs of shoes made with a unique material on a planet called Orpheus. I'm afraid of what she'll see when we get to Arcturus.

I have all the nerve to leave her there! A tramp freighter and can pick her up and they can…!

Sorry. Had to restrain myself for a minute. I'm a princess, not a banker***. I can't keep allowing her to do this. This is a military vessel, not a personal walk-in closet. There are rules and regulations. I want to enforce them. The next time she brings on a robe, I will kindly ask her to place it in the cargo hold. The buck stops here. I don't have much of them left.

::END ENTRY::

* * *

><p><strong>* This star does not exist<strong>

****Gratuitous meme injection FTW**

*****This is a reference to Doctor Leonard McCoy's trademark 'I'm a Doctor, not a/an X' joke. These are scattered through my series. **


	12. Entry 12: August 12th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: August 12, 3234

Entry Made 1617 (4:17 PM)

Dear Journal,

We've decided to take another week in Arcturus. I've spent time in the capital city on the third planet called _Falleg jörð_. This is Icelandic for 'beautiful land' or 'beautiful earth'. I've been curious of why the Humans have named their worlds in different languages. Is there a foreign charm to it? Mariposa means 'butterfly' in Spanish, _Ānquán_ (安全) means 'Safety' in Chinese, and many other worlds have names that are all part of a language. I have to say that I am somewhat disappointed. Some worlds need to be poetic.

Now, I have spent some time looking over some Alyde worlds, and those are somewhat interesting. Instead of a simple name, they name their planets based the brightness of their star. Their homeworld is named 'Perfect Balance'. Now, I understand that down the road, it will be a bit difficult to name planets uniquely. So here's what they do: they use the same scheme, but they also include the name of the star as well. There is also a world named 'Perfect Balance' about seventy light years from their homeworld, but the name translates to 'Yestso's Perfect Balance'. Brilliant!

I've beefing up on studying Human culture. It's my duty as a diplomat to study new civilizations. I have studied everything prior to the 23rd Century, as this was the time our ancestors disappeared. It was studying the others that were odd. I reached the 26th and then skimmed over the rest. The book I read was called the UNSC Galactic Codex: 3234 Edition. Now, I might be wrong, but I think that was the book Antoine said he'd be working on! Yes! It was! I remember, before we went back to Earth a second time, Antoine was approached by a couple men and asked if he was interested in writing the next installment of the Galactic Codex!* Since Antoine is a Record-Keeper, he had all the necessary things needed to study a civilization. The way he decided to go, it was so brave, so unlike him. It was actually exciting. Last thing I remember was Antoine hugging Bunnie and I goodbye and then leaving for the Spaceport. He's sent us messages a lot, explaining how he's been seeing a bunch of alien races. I guess I might get lucky and find him out here somewhere.

Talked to Mom and Dad. They want me to come home soon. I told them in September I would come by, and I would invite the boys out of that pyramid. We'd give them a high-intensity shower and ask them to relax a little.

I also received a message from Earth from the Admiralty; one Rear Admiral Devenson who was in charge of the search for Robotnik. I know people when I see them, and I was seriously not liking Devenson. It's not that he was evil, but I had a bad vibe... so I asked Tails to hack into the UNSC's Naval Database and look him up. Turns out that Devenson had been reprimanded as a cadet AND as a Lieutenant for attacking a member of another race. How he was able to dodge those charges was beyond me. It confirmed my suspicions though. This guy probably wasn't feeling too thrilled about working for me. _Hmph_. I guess I have to put him in his place.

Devenson also give me information on where Shadow the Hedgehog might be hiding. He's stowed away on one of our ships before. I wouldn't put it past him to hitch a ride on an outbound ship where he could keep his nose clean. I think he's just misdirected. I don't think he's evil. I'm pretty sure my friends realize that too.

Anyway, time to go. Some _idiot_ Crewman made the mistake of challenging me to a one-on-one game of basketball. I'm going to make sure he regrets ever uttering the challenge. Gauntlet thrown, gauntlet picked up.

::END ENTRY::

* * *

><p><strong>* I actually have written an information document, <em>The UNSC Galactic Codex: 3238 Edition<em>, and it is 'written' by Antoine and is updated procedurally! **


	13. Entry 13: August 20th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: August 20, 3234

Entry Made 1832 (6:32 PM)

Dear Journal,

I never really appreciated just how well a starship really runs. I've always just been walking around the corridors and compartments, not really thinking much about what was happening around the bulkheads, but since I have bridge access, I decided to finally use it. I'm on the command deck of the _St. Augustine_ right now. Standing crewmen saluted me as soon as I stepped on the bridge. I remembered with the Lieutenant that loyal soldiers wouldn't drop their salute until you acknowledge them.

The bridge was surprisingly small. Commander Goldberg was standing next to his command chair and got up a soon as he saw me. He said a few words to me about the efficiency of the bridge crew, and then asked me if I wanted to sit in the chair.

I sat down in the command chair, and then at once, an AI popped up. I have never seen an AI before. Her name was Nala. She took the form of an African huntress. Her long hair was braided behind her head, and she had her right hand wrapped around a spear.

"_You are the one that we take care of_." She said in accented English.

"_I guess I am. I hope I'm not a burden_."

"_Nonsense. It does my heart good to see you enjoying your stay. The ship is at your disposal_."

It sounded like Nala had something of a superiority complex. She believed that she WAS the ship in a sense. According to Tails (who was with me at the time), Nala was a "Dumb" AI, limited to a set area of knowledge; in this case, the ship. Ask her the airpseed velocity of an unladen swallow, and she'll throw up error messages.*

I think it would be interesting to have an AI. They sound like such interesting companions. I wonder...**

I'm sitting at an Ops station. The Lieutenant that was here just ended her shift and the one that was needed to relieve her seems a few minutes late. Oh well, I can just look at the stars until -

"CONTACT! Enemy contact!"

ALARM/PROXAMITY ALERT

MULTIPLE CONVERSATIONS, UNINTELLIGABLE

"Verify target bearing, Mister White."

"Hostile craft bearing two-seven-niner by one-seven-four."

"Miss Jull, strength of enemy force."

"Estimated force size approaching battle group strength. One cruiser two frigates."

(SALLY)"Hey, what's going on here?"

"Security, remove the Princess from the bridge."

"Sir, we sealed the bridge off. Vacuum protocols are in effect until you cancel the alert."

RADAR BLARING

"Your highness, take a seat at Ops. I don't think Mister Walton will be reporting this shift."

(SALLY)"Yes sir."

CLICKING

"Shields up!"

CONSOLE BEEP

"Copy, shields at maximum!"

"What's the target battlegroup makeup?"

"All Shi'Kri'Lash, sir."

"Navagation."

"Sir?"

"Bring us on a heading of zero-seven-one by zero-zero-nine, one half full."

"Aye, Commander. Zero-seven-one by zero-zero-niner. Engines answering one half full."

"Commander, ships are not answering warning messages."

"Don't expect them to. These are dumb bugs. Ops, target the cruiser and charge MAC cannons."

(SALLY)"Huh?"

"Ops!"

(SALLY)"Oh right! Uh..."

"May I be of some assistance, Princess?"

(SALLY)"Nala! Yes, please!"

"Bring up the tactical display by dragging the window to the front."

(SALLY)"OK."

"Now select the larger of the craft."

BEEPING

(SALLY)"I got it."

"Allow me to lock in firing co-ordinates."

RUMBLING

(SALLY)"What was that?"

"They've fired on us. Sir! We need to return fire."

"Nala, give me a firing solution!"

"Yes Commander. Firing solution locked in. Whenever you are ready."

"Mister White, transmit a final warning to the Shi'Kri'Lash cruiser. Tell them they have one more chance to back off."

"They're bouncing the message."

"What a shame. Princess, Fire."

BEEPING/RUMBLING.

"Round intercepting target in ten seconds. Direct hit! The cruiser's been holed. She's losing atmosphere and listing!"

"It's not backing down, Commander!"

"They need another firm kick in the rear. Princess, fire one more."

"Commander, two of the frigates are coming up to us, five hundred kilometers distant!"

"Nala, fire some pulse lasers."

"Activating laser array Alpha through Foxtrot."

"The Frigate _Ich'bada_ has been gravely wounded. Their drive core has been breached and will suffer meltdown in seven seconds."

"Back us away, Lieutenent."

"Port thrusters firing."

RUMBLING

COMPUTER BEEP

"The _Ich'bada_ has detonated. Target destroyed. Be advised, the _Lok'la_ has come to take its place."

"Spin up the autocannons. Pepper their bridge, firing solution Charlie Tango Five."

(SALLY)"Firing, sir."

"Minimal damage to hull. Integrity at 100%. Sir, may I suggest another MAC round?"

"No, we're saving that for the cruiser. Finish that one off. The other ships will retreat."

(SALLY)"OK, I've got a lock."

"Fire."

(SALLY)"Firing."

"Time on target in 15 seconds."

(SALLY)"Direct hit! The cruiser's gone!"

"Nice work."

"Commander, the enemy ships are retreating back into slipspace."

"Don't let the door smoke you on the way out!"

"Good work people. Damage report."

"Shield emitter on the port side has been worn, down at 56%. Hull integrity at 100%. No breaches."

"Excellent run. They didn't even scratch the paint."

CHUCKLING

(SALLY)"Wow... we just destroyed them!"

"They were asking for it. Highness, the Shi'Kri'Lash are just cavemen with spaceships. I have no idea how they got them in the first place, but they don't belong out here."

"Why would they attack a UNSC ship?"

"Expand their force; make them more of an issue in this part of space."

"Lieutenant White is correct. The nature of this race is to adapt new ships to their neural uplink technology. That's how they're able to fly ships in the first place. They're dumb as rocks."

(SALLY) "And THAT was just a warm-up?"

"You know it!"

(SALLY)"Is this journal still running? Awesome!"

CHUCKLING

::END ENTRY::

* * *

><p><strong>* This is a reference to Monty Python's Holy Grail, in which the airspeed of an unladen swallow (African or European) is greatly contested throughout the movie.<strong>

****FORESHADOWING!**


	14. Entry 14: August 21st, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: August 20, 3234

Entry Made 2201 (10:01 PM)

Dear Journal,

I ended up in the hospital the other day. Remember a couple of entries ago, I made reference to an 'idiot crewman' who challenged me to a game of basketball? Well, turns out he lost. _Badly_.

[Badly meaning 50-15, One on one (Take that home and chew it!)]

Said idiot's name was... Kurtis van der Hill. Brain the size of a Chao, ego the size of a moon. When I beat him, I must have damaged something sensitive in that man that he went away to train and train and train. This morning, he approached me once more and invited me to the gym. Here we would have a true contest. 'Basketball was for pussies'. This was a REAL sport. We were going to box.

Now, I've boxed once before with a Human, and that was when I was in Fort Acorn for the brief week or so. My Drill Instructor, Sergeant Jackson Jones had a HELL of a right hook. I knew how to deal with him though. Van der Hill would be cake.

Well, I was a bit cocky. I was still coasting on my victory from last time. When the first bell rang, Kurtis was like a missile. He ran forward and socked me in the face. My mouthguard popped out. _On the first punch of the fight_! I was about to get my footing when he nailed me again in the same place.

That's when I heard my jaw crack.

So now I was playing safe. I was strafing, teasing and deking at the same time. Kurtis was on the offensive, trying to cause me pain whenever he could. I was strongly suspecting that he would pull a few illegal moves on me as well.

We had a Petty Officer named O'Hannigan watching the fight. He was tall and had flaming red hair. Made me jealous he did. He was there to make sure I didn't beat the crap out of Kurtis. Only at this point in time, it was sort of the other way around.

The first round passed in a flash. By the time I heard the bell, I was just about to get a punch in. I literally had no hits on this man.

Sonic was at the ropes. He and tails were also watching the fight.

"_He has a pattern_." Sonic said. "_Watch for his arm every third blow. He pulls it back to put some more energy on it_."

"_I'd aim low_." Tails added. "_Make him double over and then get him in the face_."

I got a drink of water and the bell rang for the second round. Like the tactician I was, I let van der Hill make the first move. The first two punches were from the left, but the third was pulled back slightly. I barely noticed this because an instant later, the glove slammed into my face.

I didn't even feel any pain. I just hit the mat and O'Hannigan started counting. I was up by three and strafing again. I got my first hit in as Kurtis put a bit too much push on his punch and flew past me. I landed one in his midsection. He cringed, but kept on fighting. Three minutes later, I saw my moment. I hit him dead center in his gut. He arched over, as if begging for my glove to hit him in the face. I have to admit; I was surprised I had that much energy behind my arm. Van der Hill stumbled back onto the ropes, and I turned, victorious.

Well, that's where my cockiness came into play. See, I assumed I had _won_ the fight because Kurtis was splayed all over the turnbuckle. O'Hannigan never ended the fight and actually stood there shaking his head. By the time I noticed this, I turned around and saw a red glove go right into my chest.

I went down like a tree. I teetered and then well on the mat, grabbing my chest and trying to get breath. O'Hannigan called a TKO and declared van der Hill the winner. Needless to say, I don't think it was much of a surprise. I am 125 pounds. I am a lightweight, and I KNOW for a FACT that Kurtis is 230 pounds, so yeah, a 105-pound difference.

So, I got the glove, and it turns out, the blow cracked two ribs along with my damaged jaw. I was lucky he didn't go right through me. I asked for help and was able to get to the infirmary. I tried to refrain from talking as my mouth hurt a lot.

So I lost the fight. Damaging to my ego? Maybe. Hearing that Kurtis got the grilling of his lifetime for beating up the Princess of Knothole? Juicy as hell. Was it worth it? Almost. _Almost_. I wanted to be the one to put him down, but you can't always get what you want.

You know, lying here with the bandages all over me, I am reminded of what Christopher said to me when we were on the Flying Factory. "I make it a point never to hit a woman."

If only the sentiment carried on to all men. But why? It's the 33rd Century. If females wanted to be equal to men (and they ARE on Earth), then by principle there should be no special treatment. If one were in a fight, hitting a woman would have been no fault. Old habits.

Ough, it hurts to breathe. I got to shut this thing down and get some rest. I'm getting regenerative fluid applied to me in an hour or so. That'll feel good.

Night night.

::END ENTRY::


	15. Entry 15: August 30th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: August 30, 3234

Entry Made 0230 (2:30 AM)

Dear Journal,

It's Tails. I hope Sally understands. I needed something to record this! I didn't have anything else on me. I have to use this as a temporary audio log as I run through these calculations one more time.

I think I've come up with a breakthrough design on a something I think the UNSC would like to hear: _a small-scale jumpgate_!

I've been in constant contact with people back home. I know Aunt Sally probably doesn't know about this, but I just HAD to do this. It would be very efficient, not just restricting travel to ships in orbit!

I've got basics down. I have to reconfigure the particle accelerators so that they can compensate for the smaller size, reconfigure the projected aperture, and above all, make sure that this thing is airtight.

I've been working with scientists aboard the _St. Augustine_ as well as back on Mobius. We were sworn to secrecy here. Actually, this whole thing was an order on the part of the Admiralty.

I know that this sort of thing is shady, but people make sacrifices when it comes to scientific advancement. Besides, I want to see what has become of our world in another universe! I've seen Earth, now let's see something else!

First thing in the afternoon, I'll ask Sally if we could head back to Mobius. We have been out here for nearly two months. I think visitation is in order.

I've got to put this back now. I'll encrypt this entry so that she won't find it easily!

::END ENTRY::


	16. Entry 16: September 1st, 3234

**Journal of Sally Acorn**

**Date: September 1, 3234**

**Entry Made 1451 (2:51 PM)**

**Dear Journal,**

**Tails has been a bit jumpy lately. I usually see the little guy as excited whenever he's bouncing off the ceiling like he does. For the past couple days he's been pestering me about going back home. He says that he has something really important to show us. I understand he's a little stir crazy as of late. The ship is in a place known as the Hawking Expanse, an area where relatively little stars are in place. More or less, we're in a void. **

**This is making me think. Why aren't there any stars around here? What happened to them all? Why is it so empty here? **

**I hear horror stories among the crew about what they call a black hole. Mobians have fairly decent astronomical equipment, but I don't exactly know what it is. I think the closest similar concept I know of is called a Singularity.* Basically, it's a point of infinite mass in which all matter is pulled into it, even light. By definition, a Black Hole is invisible. This makes it very difficult to see because the best way to identify one is by finding material spiraling around it. But there is very little stuff in the Hawking Expanse, making black hole detection very difficult. For all I know, there could be one right outside my window and I wouldn't even know it.**

**Ugh, just felt a draught. I shouldn't be thinking like that. So why are we out here in the middle of nowhere? I don't know. Orders. I may be a royal with a bit or privilege under my belt, but as far as Commander Harper is concerned, I'm just another member of the crew, despite how he feels about us. I've been chatting around with some of the crew. I saw Kurtis again. He isn't too smug anymore, but he still had some personal pride to brush me off when I asked about it. Some of the crewmen in the mess hall had no idea what was going on either, so I asked Tails to do a little searching around. Apparently I hear he's been buddying up with some of the scientists on board. **

**For the record, I'm not sure why the **_**St. Augustin**_**e has scientists in the first place. This isn't a research vessel. Hmm, something weird is going on here, and I **_**don't like secrets**_**. **

**Sonic just walked in. He says that he was in the mess hall. The cooks do a good job of preparing chilidogs for him. I'm glad that I can finally keep that hog happy. I still need to wait for Tails to get back to me with-**

**(ID-UKN)WARNING! WARNING! PROXAMITY ALERT! **

**(Sally)What? NO!**

**DRIVE CORE BREACH! ALL PERSONNEL MOVE TO ESCAPE CRAFT**

**(ID CMDR GOLDBERG) Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Commander speaking. The fusion drive core has lost stabilization. I am instructing all personnel to move to their appropriate lifeboat gantries before core destabilization. Good luck people! I'll see you on the other side. Goldberg out.**

**(Sally)This is insane!**

**(ID Sonic)We were just in a fight!**

**(Sally)I know! Screw this!**

**(Sonic)Leave the journal!**

**(Sally)Not a chance!**

**(Sonic)Fine, come on! Don't slow us down!**

**(Sally)Don't run! We need to be careful now!**

**(Sonic)For God's sake! We are going to die if we don't move!**

**(Sally)SONIC!**

**(Sonic)FINE! We are on starboard section 25, Deck 2... Here. Gantry 2-8 is closest here!**

**FOOTSTEPS, CRIES, MUMBLING**

**(Sally)Anybody heading to 2-8, follow us!**

**(ID-UKN)Aye-aye, ma'am! Come on, guys! Follow the princess!**

**WARNING! TEN MINUTES TO FUSION DRIVE MELTDOWN! REPORT TO ESCAPE CRAFT!**

**(Sonic)2-5, 2-6, 2-7, 2-8! Wait! WHERE'S MILES?**

**(Sally)He'll be fine! Sonic! Where are you going?**

**(Sonic)To find Tails! **

**(Sally)HE'LL BE... ARGH! **

**Ma'am, better get in. We're sealing it up.**

**(Sally)Give him another minute**

**Aye, princess, but one more minute. We need to clear the ship. **

**CLICKING, MUMBLING-UNINTELLIGABLE**

**(Loudspeaker)All personnel accounted for! **

**Copy! Shut 'em down!**

**(Sally)What?**

**(Goldberg)Nice work people. Three minutes, seventeen seconds. We put that down to three, and we'll have a new ship record!**

**Aw, I'm missing TV for this, man!**

**Maybe I can finish shaving now.**

**Friggin' unbelievable!**

**(Sally)Wait, this wasn't real?**

**Nah, just a drill. Goldberg loves to keep us on our toes**

**Yeah, but he gets us good, dude. Just wait until the core breaches for real. **

**Shut up. **

**I'm just saying. **

**(Sonic)Sal! I got back as soon as I heard-**

**(Sally)you found him. **

**(Sonic)In his own lifeboat along with Amy. Sal, I just**

**(Sally)Shut up. Don't ever do that to me again. One day this is going to be real and we won't be able to just open the door for you. For... did I leave this on again? **

**[PAUSE RECORDING]**

**[RESUME RECORDING, 1540 (3:40 PM)]**

**A drill. That's all it was, just a drill. I know what a fire drill feels like, but the breaching of the core seems even worse. I've read the emergency manual. Sometimes a foreseeable breach is the best outcome. It said that a core could melt down at any time within the predicted meltdown time. That's frightening, and Sonic just HAD to go out there. What if this were real? He could have slowed us down! We might not have been able to clear the ship in time. **

**You know, sometimes I really get hotheaded because of what Sonic does. He doesn't mean it, but still...**

**I'm going to talk to Commander Goldberg right away. We need to go home for some R&R. I've spent too long on this tub. **

**::END ENTRY::**


	17. Entry 17: September 5th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: September 5, 3234

Entry Made 1715 (5:15 PM)

Dear Journal,

I think I might need to sit down. My nerves are shot and I feel like I just saw a ghost.

As a matter of fact, I believe that's precisely what has just happened. I'm going to have to explain everything from the beginning, just so I don't give the impression that I've gone mad.

It all started two days ago. We had landed on Mobius and immediately went to go see my parents. Mom and Dad were so eager to hear about my trip and tell them about all the worlds, languages and cultures I have seen. They wanted me to show them my pictures - all seven hundred and twenty five of them.

It had been so long; nearly a whole month on a starship changed the way I looked at living on a planet. I found myself as acting more conservative, more cautious, and more open to other people's opinions. I found this change becoming a bit prevalent as soon as I got home.

The next day, the shuttle for Lieutenant Vennettilli and Knuckles arrived at the airport. They had conflicting feelings about being out in the real world. Christopher seemed happy to be out in the fresh Mobian air, but Knuckles on the other hand had other opinions. He was a bit concerned for the Master Emerald back on Earth. He was a bit apprehensive about leaving it, and he said to me that if it were anybody else, he would have refused to go.

Gee, that's comforting.

The first thing the Human did was take a long shower. Not to be offensive, but the Mayan pyramid left him a bit... _raunchy_, I'm afraid to say. I'm pretty sure he knew it too. He claimed that the showers were restricted to two minutes at the camp. That's nearly a crime itself.

In their place, we had a soldier instead. However, this guy is the best of the best. He was called a Spartan. I've never seen one, but they're augmented. They have the strength of ten men, and the speed of a cheetah. Sonic might be able to outrun them, but they have the edge.

I wonder... what if we could get our own people into the Spartan program? I have no doubt it'll be difficult, but if we could just...*

I'll run it by the council in the next couple days. I know I'm trying to delay the inevitable, so here it goes...

This afternoon, at around noon, we were gathered in the castle's research chamber. I discovered what exactly Tails was doing on the _St. Augustine_. He was in constant contact with scientists on Mobius in an attempt to duplicate the Mobius Warpgate in orbit, except on a personal level. We would be able to travel across universes in a single stride! He calls it Project STARGATE**. Poor Christopher had no idea what the reference was. I'll have to lend him a few videos.

We had an ONI official in for inspection of the portable gate. His name was Denheart. I said it to Tails that day and I will say it again. I don't like him. I don't like what he stands for and the organization he represents. I've heard enough from the men and women aboard the _St. Augustine_ what their thoughts on the Office of Naval Intelligence were.

Regardless, I didn't say anything when he walked in. He was a guest and I had to act like a politician. Set aside your thoughts and just smile.

Tails powered up the gate five after twelve. There was a bunch of technobabble I didn't understand, and then the gate just turned white and spiraled. It was unbelievable. There was a sound that was akin to a light storm in the room. I glanced to my right and saw Christopher standing there. He had no emotion, but one look at his eyes and I saw fear. I remember telling him about the Xorda and what they did to Humanity on this planet. He was afraid of finding what was on the other side of this gate.

The gate then looked like shimmering water, and then I heard voices. These voices were so shocking that I had to be dreaming. I wasn't though. The shimmering water cleared and I saw the other side.

It was us. WE were on the other side.

I couldn't forget it. Not even fifteen feet away from me was a complete double of myself. Well, that's inaccurate; it wasn't a COMPLETE double. She was different... physically speaking. I know myself. I weigh 125 pounds and I stand at 5-foot-3. The woman that was standing in front of me was entirely different. She looked as if she was four feet high and clearly was lighter than me.***

She was also less 'pronounced' as me. Hmm, I'm glad.

I looked around and saw similarities. They were ALL shorter than us. More cute, if I may. What was I looking at? It was clear that this was a different universe, but just HOW different?

"Hi." She said.

"Hi." I answered back.

It sounded exactly alike. I nearly laughed. I then noticed something odd. There were no Humans on the other side. I gulped and saw that Vennettilli also saw this. He was uncomfortable. I could see it in his eyes, and even his breathing.

We had three Navy specialists, plus our two military men here. Why were there no Humans on the other side?

"_Overlanders! Kill the link_!"

"_We're Humans_!" Christopher said holding out his hand, displaying his five fingers.

They mentioned Humanity's extinction. There was a lot of confusion before Denheart proclaimed the gate a way to travel across Existence. For some reason, this seemed to scare the Mobians on the other side of the gate.

Then, an alarm sounded. It got Denheart angry. He said he wanted the gate for research. I knew I didn't like him, the _cockroach_. When we shut the gate down and after everyone left, I consulted Miles, who confessed that the gate really hadn't malfunctioned and he could open it again for me.

I saw her again. Sally Alicia Acorn. Me, but not me. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen, talking to myself.

We were only there for four hours, but it felt like forever. We shared information about ourselves: our friends, and the world we lived on. Mobius was the same, but again, it had differences. These Mobians evolved on their world whereas our ancestors colonized Mobius. She told me about the death of Doctor Robotnik and his return as Doctor Eggman, a being from an alternate universe that decimated his Mobius.

Funny, here it was just a _nickname_.

She also told me about an extremist cult called the Dark Legion. If I'm right, I think they're here too. Only the way she put it, they were much more threatening.

Then I told her of the Covenant, the Flood, and all the other alien races. I told her of the Humans, what Earth looked like, and our luck that the Xorda never came back.

"_Why do these Humans care so much about you_?" she asked.

"_They think of us like their children. We were a result of the mutation on their ships. We are interconnected in fate_."

"_Where are the Overlanders_?"

"_In space. They may have even found a home_."

"_Well, they're here on Mobius, but they've been encountering some racism. Only what they deserved_."

"_I agree_." I said. "_The Humans don't deserve our wrath though_."

"_Do you deserve theirs though_?"

I changed the subject. She asked about Sonic. She was in love with him deeply, and she asked me the same question. To my great surprise, I did something I never thought I would ever do.

I _hesitated_. Just for a second, but I hesitated! "Yes." I said.

She looked at me sternly for a second. "I want to see that Human again. Promise to me that I can meet him."

We discovered that our universes had parallel time. She said that she wanted to see me again on 'Day 324' of this year. After consulting with Tails for a second, I discovered that this was November 20th at around 7 PM. I told her I would see her then****. The gate turned off, leaving an empty ring.

I wouldn't tell Christopher about this right away. I don't know if I trust him enough. However, we have to be friends one day. I think I'll go talk to Chris. He's in the garden right now. I'll give him a good jump.

One more thing: I noticed a device on the other Sally's vest. It looked like a personal computer. I'll have to ask about it next time. Maybe it could be important.

::END ENTRY::

* * *

><p><strong>This entire section is based on the Epilogue of Soldier's Log seen through Sally's eyes. <strong>

*** Sally's desire to get Mobian Spartans will be apparent later in the series where Anthros will appear wearing the MJOLNIR armor. **

**** The reference here should be a bit apparent. **

***** This is the Archie Sally**

****** This just shows the difference in dating between universes. **


	18. Entry 18: September 9th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: September 9, 3234

Entry Made 1408 (2:08 PM)

Dear Journal,

The search for Doctor Robotnik has been progressing for almost three months now. Neither the UNSC's telescope equipment or ours have detected anything around our solar system. We have to assume that with all of the information that we have that he is in the Humans' universe and using whatever influence he has to gather followers.

This scares me because I know that not everybody in the world turns out to be perfectly chemically balanced individuals that wouldn't hurt a fly. I've been there. I've seen how people live, and I KNOW that there are whack-jobs that will bow to Robotnik on sight alone. It makes me sick and makes me think at the same time.

How Robotnik is able to convince people is beyond me. Admiral Andsworth speculates that people who do not hold Earth in high regard may ally themselves with Robotnik to give them an edge if he wants to attack Earth. It is in my experience though that Robotnik might simply dispose of them once he comes to the conclusion that they are of no use to him anymore. Whether this will be through Roboticization is beyond me. The doctor doesn't strike me as the _'two in the head; dump in the river'_ kind of man.

No, he'll have plans for them.

I've been in contact with the vessel spearheading the search, the UNSC _Liverpool_, captained by David Firth. He has been patrolling three sectors of Human Space keeping an eye open for reports of a similar ship and that of any signs of battle or terrorist groupings. Five weeks; _nada_.

I almost feel like I'm wasting my resources on this search. It's clear that Robotnik doesn't want to be found and that he has been expecting us to come looking for him. No matter what, I have to make sure that I don't throw people's lives away here.

As if that wasn't bad enough, I've discovered that while we were away, a bunch of crazies have poked their heads up over Mobius and started the xenophobia talks. I leave home for a few weeks and come back to a racial riot. Mom and Dad have publically made appearances and assured that we weren't catering to the Humans.

This is true. We're not just lying down and letting them take over everything. They're our friends and the only reason that we're advancing any technology that we can is because we need to protect ourselves now. I may have said this before, but until the potential suicide-bombers out there stop I'll have to keep saying it. WE ARE IN OVER OUR HEADS. We barely HAVE a suitable military force. Our space program is SUB-PAR. We didn't even KNOW the Chaos Emeralds had trans-universal transit capabilities. The Humans know more than WE do on that subject.

It's because of this unknown threat that I've been watching the building of the Magnetic Accelerator Cannon Defense Platforms in orbit. These cannons are 1 kilometer in length and are able to project a three thousand-ton slug at a fraction of light speed through the use of nothing but magnets. There are seven built right now, including the ODA Knothole, the platform that is gyosynchronized over our city.

As a compromise of letting the UN militarize our area of space, we had to make a secure policy: all Platforms must be staffed by a majority Mobian compliment. Secondly, all ships WILL deactivate their nuclear ordinance upon clearing the jumpgate unless given strict authorization by my parents or by the Minister of Defense. We don't use nukes; we don't really like nukes, but they can save our lives if possible.

The _Knothole_ is 100% complete and serves as the Command Structure of the entire Orbital Defense Cluster. We can expect anywhere between twenty to fifty orbital defense cannons by the end of this year. The Humans are fast builders. They have robots that assist them in their work. Those things make me uncomfortable. Some of them are humanoid and look fairly life-like. I know that they're mostly designed for workplace assistance, but I did hear about a conflict where rebels reprogrammed an entire planet's worth of robots and used them against the UNSC. I heard that they blew up a whole PLANET at the end of that war!

Well, that's partially incorrect. In 3219, the UNSC blockaded a planet called Malificent V that was the supposed base of operations for the robot-controlling armies. The ships engaged in orbital bombardment of key locations on the surface when they hit a dump of anti-matter weaponry.

Now, this is more extreme than I write. A nuclear weapon uses only about 10% of its explosive yield. An anti-matter weapon can use _100%_. The explosion immediately blew a large chunk of Malificent off, but it also caused major destabilizations on the interior of the planet. Obviously more weapon stashes were kept there and they were all set off. Within a few hours, Malificent V had blown in half. It's something of a horror story telling the danger of anti-matter weapons, but it is also the place where tactical brilliance would be acknowledged. Everybody who survived that shockwave earned medals.

I'll have to hear the story in detail from Andsworth some time. Time to go. I feel like taking a bit of a run to the city.

::END ENTRY::


	19. Entry 19: September 11th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: September 11, 3234<br>Entry Made 1500 (3:00 PM)

Dear Journal,

I've spent a yesterday readjusting to Mobius' gravity in the gym. Turns out that in space, microgravity pulls the bones apart, making weakness a major problem. Over that month on the Human ship, I grew three inches. I know that doesn't seem like a major problem, but exercise is important if one wishes to maintain a healthy body in such an environment.

Today, the Freedom Fighters recieved an assignment from UNSC HIGHCOM, a man named Rear Admiral I. Flynn. This was odd because most of our assignments come from the people themselves, or we discover them through observation of the planet's state. It turns out that there was a robot disturbance well away from Knothole. By the terms of my parents' agreement, wherever I went on Mobius when it came to dangerous missions, my Protectors... well, my Protector would follow.

It turns out that this was a reconnaisance mission. The brass wanted us to observe Robotropolis! I can see where Admiral Flynn is going here, but I don't think we're a personal recon brigade. We just fight the good fight. I was initially hesitant, but then I saw that our orders had my parents' signatures on them. Clearly I was in over my head.

Then by 7 AM, we were loaded up on our transport. The Pelican, Charlie 255 took us all the way across the continent in a few hours. Robotropolis wasn't far away from the Great Desert. By the time we were coasting over the sands, the citadel was in sight. And the sun was barely even up yet.

Even in September, it was warm here. We dressed light. Since this was a simple recon job, I decided to forego armor and stick with my boots and vest. It would have been too uncomfortable with this heat in that armor. Plus, it wasn't like anybody was going to shoot at us.

I have to remember to superglue my mouth shut.

Sonic took off as soon as he hit the ground. He had his COM unit on so he was able to keep in touch. He was across the sand in no time at all. We took off at a jog across the sand. For reasons I think should be obvious, Lieutenant Vennettilli chose to wear clothes and armor. I asked about this and he told me that he simply didn't want to get shot. I told him that it was unlikely but he then advised me to act with more foresight into a situation.

Sometimes I really _hate _him.

I wondered why Charlie 255 couldn't have dropped us off closer. I don't like being out here in the desert. I've heard of raiders that set up camps here and hunt people who get too far away from civilized regions of this place. The closest town was called Bracewater... over seventy five miles due South, and even then they didn't have any form of ground-to-orbit commnication should our COMs fail (Plus I think they would have freaked out if they saw the Human...)

The outer wall of the city is comprised of high-quality Titanium mixed in with Aluminum-21 and Iron. The wall is approximately thirteen meters thick and over ten meters high. This was the guard wall that we got past. I know these walls though. I've been sneaking past them for years. We found a way inside (through means I shall not divulge lest this journal get captured) and made our way into the city. Not exactly an easy task nearing high-noon.

Sonic was our advance guard. He informed us of patrols and their patterns, and was a knack for calling out aircraft.

Chris was armed with his rifle, his outrageously large pistol, and a camera of all things. This was a weird device. It was a three-dimensional camera. A device on the top provided a 360 degree snapshot of a region. It could ALSO be set to take in information as one goes along, so if viewed in a Virtual Reality chamber, a 3-D map of an area could be constructed and explored for future references.

This was also the first time I think I have ever seen Chris with a helmet on. His face was hidden behind a balaclava and goggles. He was unrecognizable without his face and his hat. If it weren't for the bars of a Lieutenant and the American flag on his shoulder, I wouldn't have known it was him.

By noon we were on the outskirts of the city. We recieved a message from an orbiting ship that we were only to explore the outer edges. They weren't planning on storming this place with anything less than an Expeditionary Force.

Why would they even want to conquor Robotropolis? It was originally the first multi-cultural city on the planet that my family had the pleasure of ruling over, but Robotnik's takeover ousted us and we had to retreat to Knothole. The site of Eden Valley; the first ever colony on Mobius.

Then Chris gave me an interesting question to ponder. He asked me why a ship orbiting the planet would have no luck in getting recon data when Robotropolis is HUGE, and why they were sending in such a small team.

He was right. We were only three people. Two Mobians and a Human. Granted, he was a well-armed Human with body armor and a personal shield generator, but it was a bit off. I should have seen it before. When he asked the woman over the COM what the data was being used for, she replied, and I quote:

"_That's classified information Omega Actual; you guys do your job and let us do ours_."

Cryptic if I ever heard it. I was about to say something but he held up his hand and spoke against it.

I have to remember that while I'm in the castle or on a starship, Christopher reports to me. No ifs, ands or buts. While we are in the field however, he has seniority through experience. We spent an hour in the city's outskirts. It was chilling to be here again. I've always dreaded coming back here. It's a place where many people lost their lives. Father lives with it every day.

It intrigued the Human though.

"Why do you find this place so exciting?"

"Technologically speaking, this city is ahead of its time. I doubt the Mobians made such advances in this timeframe, so I'm opting that this is Stay Puft's work."

"_Stay Puft_...?"

"Movie joke. Doctor Robotnik. Based on what I saw in Carson Valley; what got Dave killed, he had to be working on it here."

I explained to him that Robotnik hasn't even been detected near Mobius. Then he chuckled. I didn't see the smile through the balaclava, but the raised eyebrow indicated mischief.

"Hmm. I wonder if Andsworth might greenlight a salvage operation-"

A shot flew past his face and he fell back. I ran for cover, cursing along the way. This was a trap. It explained why the guard shifts were incorrect! Sonic grabbed EMP cylinders from his belt and tossed them. The robots went limp and he destroyed them with well placed spin-dashes.

The Marine took a position and started shooting. Brass casings blew out of his gun and embedded itself in the sand. They glimmered in the sun like precious coins. The Eggpawns were weak though. They were armed with some of the most innacurate weapons I've ever seen. The R-22 Machine Pistol only has an effective range of 50 yards. Use-LESS. The fact that they were able to get a shot near us at all was nothing short of a miracle.

Soon, he was calling it in.

"Overwatch, Omega Actual! We have a problem! Ambush at platoon strength at my position. Requesting evac, now!" He was hit with a bullet in the chest. Sonic gasped and I asked if he was alright. He was. It turns out the shield absorbed the round's energy. "Ten minutes? You've got to be _kidding_me!" He had said. He furiously closed the channel and explained our situation.

It was a long ten minutes. Not the longest I've ever experienced. I'd rate this one a seven out of ten. But I had no weapon, no shields, and nothing more than my boots and my vest. Not the most modest of clothing, and certainly not bulletproof. It turns out the only ones that had the capacity to fight back were Chris and Sonic, and they were evenly matched. Sonic's speed allowed him to get the better of his opponents, and the Human's marksmanship allowed him to pluck robots at almost a hundred yards away.

The Pelican finally arrived. Its gun spat delpleted uranium rounds that knocked Eggman's cheap wind-up toys over like the army-men they were. Charlie 255 opened her hatch and beckoned us forward. We sat down gratefully and made orbit within another five minutes.

I don't know what the information we gathered was for, but I can tell that it'll be kept a secret. I don't like secrets being kept from me. I have to know what it was about.

I have to know.

Oh, and as if I thought a mission were bad enough? Yeah, not even close; now I have to file the report.

::END ENTRY::


	20. Entry 20: September 19th, 3234

**Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: September 19, 3234<br>Entry Made 1723 (5:23 PM)**

**Dear Journal,**

**Sorry to disappoint, but it's not the princess. First Lieutenant Vennettilli reporting for duty!**

**Now, I know this might seem a little out of place, but I needed to borrow this journal. My personal log's program was corrupted and had to be sent into orbit for fixing. So now, my arm feels a bit lighter without my datapad and I also have this lavender-ish pad thing. Glad no Marines are here with me. She does know that I have it though, so I am probably not going to die when I return it.**

**So, what does she do here... oh yeah! At this point in time, I am currently embarking on a short journey to some of Mobius' interesting places. At the request of their Highnesses, I was able to obtain a loaned Pelican dropship to help make the journey. I was also able to get a guide. His name's Porthos, and I guess he's a Dalmatian. He's a nice guy; willing to joke about stuff and surprisingly open towards Humans. He revealed to me he was a member of the Church of the Ancients, a pseudo-religion that holds Humanity in high regard. These are the people that apparently view Matthew Mobius as a deity.**

**Porthos and I first travelled to Old Megaopolis. It was the first place I knew I needed to go. The city was originally New York; a very primitive version. This was a city that was taken down well before her time. Due to the absence of the Twin Towers, I assume that this was sometime after 2001. Porthos explained to me that the city was attacked by some sort of genetic weapon from a race called the Xorda. Up until only a few days ago, I had no idea who they were. The Xorda were a race of aliens I assume, and they must have had a beef with humanity because they bombed the living daylight out of Earth. Based on what I heard, no Humans survived the attack. It was a 100% extermination of mankind. It was horrible.**

**I had to look around and see that this was wrong. These buildings shouldn't have been here. They shouldn't be standing. I knew what happened to abandoned structures. Every schoolboy knows that if you leave something for a long time without tending to it, it will fall apart. So WHY were these buildings still up? There was a lack of rubble in the streets even. I couldn't believe it, but there were still CARS on the road (**_**sans**_** tires of course. **_**THOSE**_** degenerated).**

**Porthos believed that a side effect of the Xorda's attack must have shielded these buildings from degeneration somehow. It was beyond my knowledge. We had ways to make our historical buildings last hundreds of years, but once again, this had to do with attendance.**

**It was around 2 PM that we were on Park Avenue. Even back home, these were where the rich lived. These towers stretched three thousand feet into the air with balconies on every floor. At the top, there was a rotating three-storied ballroom that allowed views of the city for miles and miles. You could see all the way to Philadelphia on a good day. Further down Park Avenue, there was a gigantic recreation complex on top of our Rosa Parks Building. It had trees, rocks a river, and a small ecosystem!**

**Not here though. There was nothing here. It was all gone. It was worse than gone, IT NEVER HAPPENED!**

**I saw group of skeletons that were laying on the ground, slumped over one another. I found myself kneeling next to the pair, curious about their deaths. How did they die? How quick was it? Were they husband and wife? Boyfriend and Girlfriend? Did they have children? It was horrifying seeing this happen to them. Why were their remains still here? It was probably the same thing keeping the buildings up.**

**This was **_**sick**_**. They didn't even have the chance to rest in peace. Instead, this was a city of **_**death**_**. I recoiled from it, so horrified that I couldn't comprehend it. I asked Porthos for few minute alone which he graciously gave me.**

**I looked around, saw everything that happened, and sunk to my knees. I let it all out. Everything. These people, this city, this world, MY ENTIRE SPECIES. Gone. All gone. I hadn't cried this much since my parents died.**

**I despise the Xorda. I will find them one day. I will find them and kill every single one of them. You can destroy these cities and destroy these people; I don't care if I'm 12,000 years in the GOD-FORSAKEN future, THIS IS STILL MY HOME!**

**::END ENTRY::**


	21. Entry 21: September 25th, 3234

Temporary Soldier's Log  
>1LT C.<br>Entry Made on September 25, 3234  
>1200 hours<p>

/Begin Entry/

Are my eyes deceiving me, or have I stepped into one of Shakespeare's works?

Today, I have been in the weirdest place I have ever seen. IN MY LIFE. We are in a place called Mercia across the sea. I'm sorry, did I walk into Hamlet? Have I waltzed into Nottingham? Where in time am I?

This place defies all logic. The technological level is lower than that of Knothole or Reoh. I seem to be standing in a Tudor-era village with a castle. It mirrors that of Castle Acorn, but something even worse happened here. Whereas in Knothole, there was a uniform English (although with a slight accent, possibly Southern, yet it was very diluted), the language here is regressed. People seem to be speaking in a Victorian-era language (i.e. speaking with things like 'ye', 'yonder', 'thee', etc.)

There was no spaceport whatsoever, so we had to land in a clearing that a very angry farmer made a point of yelling at us about. THANK GOD, there was a military outpost here. It was a Mobian sensor bunker who had access to orbital communications; they knew we were coming. They warned us about something in the city that was keeping them from getting closer. Something about a High Sheriff. Really?

The soldiers there brought us an interpreter. His name was Arthur, a native of Mercia who crossed the sea to join the military. Arthur was fluent in many languages, including English and France. Useful since this area, geographically speaking, was in the France-Anglo region.

We didn't spend long in the area. The people stared at us again. I'm starting to get tired of that. We kept to ourselves mostly. Arthur, Porthos and I didn't get farther than ten feet away from each other. I listened to some of the citizens talking. They appeared to be quite somber. If I remember my fairy tales correctly, Robin Hood had to save the people from the oppression of the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Hmm, the irony. Now, I wonder who this guy actually is. As of 1200 hours, we are at some form of tavern. I've ordered an ale. I don't usually drink, but they don't have anything else and it's a bit of a walk back to the dropship. A kid hedgehog wearing dirty robes came up to me. He asked me if I was an emissary of the Ancients.

"No. I'm just a guy working a 9 to 5 job and is in over his head."

The kid walked away a bit dumbfounded about what I just said. Hmph, serves him right. Emissary of the Ancients...

Aah, excellent Arthur. What will they need in currency?"

(ID-UKN) Shillings.

Do you have any?

(ID-UKN) You owe me.

Don't you worry, I always pay my debts. Aah... come to papa

DOOR SLAMMING

(ID-UKN) STAY YOUR HAND!

(CHRIS) Hey, what in God's name is going on here?

(ID-UKN) By order of the High Sheriff, you are under arrest, Overlander!

(ID-UKN) You will accompany us, villain, or we shall be forced to do away with you!

(CHRIS) You make a forceful argument!

GUNSHOTS

SCREAMING

(CHRIS) That was a warning shot! Back off or the next one's going through your head!

GRUNTING

(ID-UKN) HOLD HIM DOWN!

(ID-UKN) I HAVE HIM

(ID-UKN) TAKE HIS WEAPON! BRING HIM IN THE DUNGEON! WHERE ARE HIS COMPATRIOTS?

(ID-UKN) We have them, Sergeant.

(CHRIS) What have I done?

GROANING

(ID-SERGEANT) Your kind are but a danger here. Thou will be brought before the High Sheriff to be roboticized. Your vessel will be possessed.

(CHRIS) Good luck getting the security locks out. You try to start her up, that ship will go up in flames. Willing to try your luck?"

(ID-SERGEANT) You speak in riddles! Remove him!

(CHRIS) General security warning! Transmit to any UNSC vessels in the region! I need help! We're being incarcerated!

GENERAL SECURITY WARNING AWAY. MESSAGE ON REPLAY/AUTOMATIC HAIL. TRANSMITTING NOW

(ID-SERGEANT) Take the device too! Leave nothing!

/End Entry/


	22. Entry 22: September 26th, 3234

Temporary Soldier's Log  
>1LT C.<br>Entry Made on September 26th, 3234  
>0630 hours<p>

[[STATUS UPDATE: AUTOMATIC DATE ADJUSTMENT IN EFFECT. CONTINUTION OF PREVIOUS LOG IN AUTOMATIC TERMINATION]]

/Begin Entry/

(ID-UKN) Who are thou?

(CHRIS) Vennettilli, Christopher J., First Lieutenant. 09790-07802-CV

(SERGEANT) Hit him again.

BLOWS

SPITTING/SPATTERING

(CHRIS) You... you have nothing on me.

(SERGEANT) We saw your hand, _Human_. We do not know how you have ever survived the Xorda attack, but we will know what you are doing here. Are you a spy?

(CHRIS) Way off the money.

(SERGEANT) Soldier, continue.

BLOWS/GRUNTING

(SERGEANT) Let's try this again, Lieutenant. What is your purpose here? Where do you originate from? Are you a descendant of the Lost Million?

(CHRIS) Vennettilli, Christopher J., 09790-07802-CV

(SERGEANT) _ENOUGH OF THESE GAMES! YOU SPEAK WORDS AND NUMBERS; THEY ARE USELESS TO ME! WHERE ARE THE REST OF YOUR CLAN_?

(CHRIS) I have my company. 182nd Marine Infantry Division, 5th Battalion, 32nd Platoon; out of New York, Earth.

(ID-UKN) _Earth_. I have heard that word, sirrah. I know not what it means.

(CHRIS) It's my home.

(SERGEANT) Does it lie beyond the sea? Is it in another realm?

(CHRIS) You could say that.

(ID-UKN) He's hiding something important from us.

(SERGEANT) You will speak, you degenerate filth.

(CHRIS) Oh great, demoralize the man you want to extract information from. Yeah, I'm sure that'll work loads.

(SERGEANT) Perhaps you are right, foul creature. Perhaps I cannot extract the information from you. However, perhaps the thought of losing someone you care about will loosen your tongue. Bring him.

(CHRIS) Oh God no.

(ID-ARTHUR) Wh...What are you doing?

(SERGEANT) Kneel. _Good_. Now, Lieutenant. I have a proposition for you. I'm very sure that the end result will be mutually beneficial. In my hand, I hold your device; the cannon that you wielded in your hand. Reportedly, it can destroy an opponent in one shot. The power of a cannon, in the palm of your hand. Miraculous.

(CHRIS) Are you going to look at it, or have the guts to use it you furry creep?

NECK CRACKING

(SERGEANT) Slurs will not improve your situation, soldier-

(CHRIS) _MARINE_

(SERGEANT) -so I suggest you choose your next words wisely. Now, where was I? Ah yes, our agreement. As you may well know, Arthur once lived among us; he spoke our language, ate our food, tilled the land, until he left for the kingdom beyond the sea. He served different masters. He returned in their colors. The High Sheriff has little use for him now.

(CHRIS) Put the gun down.

(SERGEANT) I am giving you this one chance to tell me what I need to know. Where are you from? Why are you here? Are there plans to attack us? Co-operate, and perhaps the High Sheriff can find use for you among the ranks. Think of it, Human. You can have anything you desire: Wine, Riches, _Women_; all at the tips of your fingers.

(CHRIS)...Vennettilli, Christopher J., Lieutenant, 09790-07802-CV

SAFTEY CLICK

(SERGEANT) I was able to familiarize myself with this weapon in the courtyard. The blast nearly broke my wrist. I fired three charges before I realized this weapon needed ammunition. I found these boxes filled with charges. Even if I miss the first time, I'll hit eventually.

(ARTHUR) Please! Lieutenant! Help me! Don't let him kill me!

SOBBING/SNIFFLING

(ARTHUR) PLEASE! Don't let my momma know that I'm dead! I want to go home!

(SERGEANT) I will count to three, Lieutenant. If by that time I don't get answers, I will kill this man, and you will watch. One... Tw-

(CHRIS) ALRIGHT! Alright! I'll tell you anything you want to know. Just, please, don't hurt him.

(SERGEANT) Hmm, I thought you would see it my way. Where are you from?

(CHRIS) I am from Earth. It's a world in another plane of existence, in another dimension.

(ID-UKN) Is it Heaven? Is that where God is?

(ID-UKN) No, you blustering fool! 'Tis where Matthew Mobius resides and waits for us when we die!

(SERGEANT) You speak in riddles, traveller. Tell me clearly. I beseech you.

(CHRIS) There are others. Thousands of others. We arrived in ships that came from the stars. Near the moon. That's how we arrived from Earth.

(ID-UKN) Ships from the stars. An oddity if ever I heard.

(ID-UKN) Perhaps these are the same vessels used by Lord Julian.

(SERGEANT) Stow your talk! Lieutenant, how strong is your military force?

(CHRIS) Enough to take you sons of _bitches_ down. You're oppressing these people. You're making them suffer and threatening them with roboticization! The UNSC won't stand for this! We'll return and destroy you!

(ID-UKN) Sergeant, he speaks the truth. If his weapon doth be truth, this grand host may very well strike us down. Ships from the stars, pillars of fire from God himself.

(SERGEANT) Well then, I guess it is apparent on what we must now do.

RACK SLIDING

(CHRIS) Wait, what are you-

(SERGEANT) Thank you, Lieutenant. Now comes my part in this arrangement.

(ARTHUR) NO! NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! PLEASE! SPARE ME!

(CHRIS) _NO!_

GUNSHOT/SPLATTER/GURGLE

(CHRIS) OH JESUS! OH GOD!

(ID-UKN) God in heaven. What did you do to him?

(SERGEANT) I... I do not know. Oh Mobius preserve my soul. What power. What ferocity.

(ID-UKN) Sergeant. You have something on your face.

(SERGEANT) I shall clean it later. Next, I kill the one who guides you.

(CHRIS) _WHAT DID HE EVER DO TO YOU? WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO DO THIS?_

(SERGEANT) Relax, Lieutenant. It will all be over soon.

COUGHING

(SERGEANT) What? Smoke? No... not now...

GRUNTING

(ID-UKN) Twice the fun, sirrah!

(SERGEANT) Leave us be, Robert. This does not concern you.

(ID-UKN) 'Tis not the way I hear it, villain. I ask of you now to step away from this man.

(SERGEANT) I ask of you to try!

THUNK/GROANING

(ID-UKN) I suppose he shan't be trying that again. Come now, on your feet, sirrah. What be thy name?

(CHRIS) Lieutenant Christopher James Vennettilli, UNSC; Human defence forces

(ID-UKN) I sadly say that I do not know of this force.

(CHRIS) Who are you?

(ID-UKN) Thou mayst call me Rob. Rob O' the Hedge

(CHRIS) Oh God.

(ROB) What?

(CHRIS) Nothing, it's just, you remind me of someone I know. Someone _obnoxious_...

(ROB) Hmm, I'm afraid I will have to take your word, Lieutenant.

(CHRIS) Why did you come for me?

(ROB) I was asked, sirrah.

(CHRIS) By whom?

(ROB) Well, funny you should ask. T'was cousin actually, Amy Rose.

(CHRIS) Rose?

(ROB) Verily.

(CHRIS) Private First Class Amy Rose, a hedgehog with pink hair?

(ROB) Verily.

CHUCKLING

(CHRIS) Ha HA! It worked!

(ROB) I apologize, but I know not of what you speak, Lieutenant.

(CHRIS) Rob, thank you for saving me and - Oh _God_, Arthur...

(ROB) Lord in Heaven. What has happened to this man?

(CHRIS) Killed, by my weapon.

(ROB) Monsters. He was unarmed. He did not deserve this death. Mobius, I believe I am ill.

(CHRIS) Wait, my friend! Porthos! Where is he?

(PORTHOS) LT! I'm back here!

CLICKING

(CHRIS) He's loose!

(ROB) WHISPERING If only I had been here sooner.

(CHRIS) There's nothing you could have done.

(ROB) I disagree, sirrah. I know when a failure of mine can be prevented. This man mayst live another had I not been slower. I apologize profusely.

(CHRIS) Hedge, be sorry later. Get us back to our ship first!

(ROB) Yes, your ship.

(CHRIS) Wait. I'm not leaving the body.

(PORTHOS) LT, we need to get out of here before more guards realize what happened.

(CHRIS) He needs to go home. Porthos, grab the journal will you? Tap the Pause button. I'm pretty sure people will want to hear this.

(ROB) Very good. Follow me. I think I know where your flying machine is.

(CHRIS) Hang on. I need my gun.

[[PAUSE RECORDING]]

-

[[RESUME RECORDING TIMESTAMP 10/25/34, 0820 hours]]

I'm sitting here safe and sound, and a man is lying dead at my feet. Arthur did not need to be killed. There should have been a way to resolve that situation. As Marines, we are taught that combat is a way of showing that all bets are off. Fighting with one another is never the best way to resolve your differences. It only generates more hate, and in the end, people end up hurt, or worse.

Arthur, I'm so sorry. I wish I could have done something else. That lunatic holding that magnum as if he knew how to use it. He was in no position to make demands.

I keep telling myself that I should have said nothing; go with protocol like I should have, but then I would have ended Arthur's life sooner. The way I see it, I bought this man as much time as I possibly could. It just wasn't enough though.

I'll have to notify Arthur's family myself. It's the worst feeling in the world, walking up to that door and telling the people on the other side '_Hello, your son/daughter is dead. On behalf of my military who does not care in the slightest, I offer my condolences_.' Then you have to watch them break down in front of you; blame you; blame the military; blame God if it makes them feel better.

I wonder how long I have left? Nobody's going to be knocking on doors for me.

SIGH

Robert (I refuse to call him Rob O') the Hedgehog was a great help to us during the escape from Mercia. He escorted us to our Pelican and looked over it with amazement. He came to the conclusion that we were not of Mobius fairly quickly. He was curious about our origins, and I promised that one day I would return and tell him of the lost history. He's a real wizard with his longbow. I explained that we were both marksmen and that our work took place over a distance. He explained a difference between us though: I shot to kill.

I had to agree. I don't have the luxury of deciding whether or not to pull the trigger. I have to pull it; bang; job's done. Being a Freedom Fighter is... different. You play by different rules. Maybe that's why I'll never truly be one of them. Maybe I can't understand them. Maybe they're hard-wired differently, or maybe I'm just going crazy.

Sorry, watching a man die in front of you makes you question a lot of things. I need to lie down.

Rest easy, Arthur. You're going home. You're going home, buddy.

/End Entry/


	23. Entry 23: September 30th, 3234

Temporary Soldier's Log  
>1LT C.<br>Entry Made on September 30th, 3234  
>1852 hours<p>

/Begin Entry/

Four days.

Four days and I still think about what happened in that dungeon. I don't think it's right when a memory like that has been stuck in your head for that long. I feel angry, and I'm not entirely sure why. We brought Arthur's body back home on September 26th. We managed to make orbit and reach Knothole safely. I had to break the news to his parents. Considering the circumstances of my visit, it went quite well. They told me in an even voice that 'They would much rather have had [their] son dead than turned into one of those monsters.'

What does THAT entail? Some people are willing to have their children die rather than be roboticized? On the other hand... that doesn't seem like a bad mindset. You have to think of it from a Mobian perspective: Would I rather become one of these monsters who have metallic bodies for their 'lives', or would I rather die? Seems like an easy choice, right? It's actually more complicated than that. If I chose to become a robot, I would have none of my Free Will and be forced to act as a drone without the mighty bough of saviours, the Sword of Acorns.

I've only seen this thing a couple of times, but this isn't your ordinary longsword. The Sword has the ability to restore Free Will to roboticized Mobians, but it still doesn't solve how to restore their organic bodies. At best, you can interrupt roboticization and escape with a half an organic body. Death preferable for Mobians? Possibly.

Now, for Humans, oh it's much _worse_. The basic principle about Human roboticization is that you have to consent to your transformation. Through the power of Shut Up It Just Does, your body is transformed into a metallic shell complete with prosthetics, ocular lenses, and plenty or wires going all over your body.

Is Resistance Futile after all?

So, what happens if you don't consent? You're turned into a garden statue. That's right, ladies and gentlemen. You are turned into an immobile statue. To my knowledge, if this occurs, there is no way to revert back to a Free Will state. Death preferable for Humans? Most definitely.

I needed to talk to someone, but the Freedom Fighters were not in Knothole at the time. They were out on a mission, which I thought was odd because according to my orders, I was supposed to go with them at all times. My superiors instructed me not to worry about it. Colonel Holland has told me that the data that I helped gather in Robotropolis a couple weeks ago will aid in the mission. Just what did I do exactly?

I waited a day and realized that they weren't coming back. I received _new orders_ from Colonel Holland instructing me and Porthos to head to a country across the sea called Albion. I've seen so much water I'm seasick. I spent the travel time with Porthos in the cockpit. We pulled into orbit so that we could shave some time off our journey.

Albion is a city mostly populated by Echidna. According to the miniscule data we have regarding its origins, after the Lost Million set down, evolution for Echidna skyrocketed. They evolved much quicker than some of the other proto-Mobians. Scientists brought the evolving echidna to a base in the old UK they called Albion, which was the Greek word for 'England'. There are lots of bits and pieces missing from the data. According to what was found, there was passing reference to a base orbiting Europa, and a spaceship that was piloted by an echidna named Dave.

Hmm, I wonder if the Echidna like Kubrick films.

Albion apparently became more than a research base. It became a whole city. Something really amazing since Eden Valley was still a small city at this time with only a few hundred thousand people. Albion grew to millions within two hundred years. Yee-haw.

The Dark Ages didn't touch this place. Starships were built; experiments were carried out that extended lifetimes. I could spend years reading over what the echidna have done here. My orders were to investigate the culture briefly. Ancient Humans were seen as warriors. The echidna value strength, but also technological prowess. Some of them believed that they were purposely created to be the first evolutionary race to succeed Humans on Mobius. That was, until the eruption of Darwin's Plague in the 27th Century that killed off vast amounts of Humans on the planet. When the last few Human scientists left to go find other survivors to cure the plague, there was even a procession for the scientists as they left in a huge convoy. Some of the inhabitants still have pictures too.

Speaking of which, these people seemed very comfortable with me being here. I mean, they didn't react like in Reoh or Mercia where people _attacked me_ because they thought I was an Overlander. Something about the way I looked, talked, or acted seemed to inform them.

I found myself with Porthos on a boulevard where I was talking to a man named Locke who asked about Humanity. He seemed like a nice guy, so I explained that we were a Commerce/Military spacefaring race that have advanced greatly in spaceflight over the last 500 years. Locke seemed very interested in this and wanted to know if he could speak to someone regarding starships.

Just what did they have planned? A pilgrimage to Europa or something like that? I'll have to ask what's going on up there... maybe we can get a ship out there to explore what's around Europa.

[[PERSONAL REQUEST MADE; TRANSMITTING TO COL. BART HOLLAND]]

I also discovered what this floating island was. Apparently it was an experiment with an unfortunate side effect. The Floating Island (also called Angel Island) follows wind currents over the planet, surfing on the jetstreams in a fairly predictable pattern. The echidna won't talk about what's on the island though. Not easily. This is going to take some time.

An echidna by the name of Winchester (of the house of Talbot) took us in for the night. They were very kind, and his children asked me plenty of questions (Thank God something related to 'Emissary of the Ancients' was not involved. Who am I, The Freaking Sisko?). Most of them asked legitimate questions, such as how the Warpgate in orbit worked and how people could travel across universes.

Winchester's a proud daddy. His kids are going to be great scientists one day.

I promised myself that I'd be going on a walk. I need a bit of exercise. Better keep the uniform on; at least the vest and cap. It's a beautiful day, and the temperatures are unseasonably high. Better take advantage of it before the cold air comes in.

/End Entry/


	24. Entry 24: October 1st, 3234

Temporary Soldier's Log  
>1LT C.<br>Entry Made on October 1st, 3234  
>1313 hours<p>

/Begin Entry/

Just got the forecast from the HERMES weather satellites. The first day of October hits 5 degrees Centigrade. I have to say I'm not impressed since we had beautiful weather yesterday. There was a frost coming in that covered some of the roofs in the neighborhood I was in. Winchester's wife, Annabella made us a wonderful breakfast. She told me that she was happy to have one of the Old Ones in her care. She almost seemed honored. They were having a traditional dish. There was meat on the table which made me happy.

[[As an Italian, I have to say that we share a special bond with la carne. Seriously, we care more about food than actual people sometimes!]]

The kids, whom I learned were called Margaret and Xanados came to the table and, wouldn't you know it, asked me questions. Today, they asked me if I have ever seen Chaos Emeralds before. I told them I did, and that we had them around Earth as well. The second question was about the battle in July. I was a bit surprised they picked up on that. Word travels.

I took a shower right after breakfast. My scalp was feeling a bit itchy after wearing my hat for a few hours. The showers were something to write home about, let me tell you! There were settings everywhere! Holographic temperature controls, plasma-screen taps, and multi-vector shower heads. Oh _baby_.

Normally you would have to do some major butt-kissing on a military vessel to gain access to one of these babies. In Albion, it seems to be common. I have to say, I have been greatly impressed by Echidna technology. If I had to compare us to them, I think they're getting close, but as soon as they master faster than light travel, I refuse to be impressed.

Actually, now I'm curious. The other day, I talked to a man named Locke who was interested in our technology. I know we were just chatting on the street, but do I get the feeling that the Echidna are finding that Mobius is too small for them? It sounds like a very human-like urge to leave the cradle that I have to say I admire.

But do they want our drives? Now, I may not be a sociologist, but I sure know that there's strict precautions to take when giving FTL drives to allied races. We've only been in contact with the Mobians since June. That's only 4 months; not nearly enough to form a trusting relationship. Plus, I think I'm a bit jumpy knowing that there's a potential genocidal alien race out there.

Hmm, history repeats itself.

We left Winchester's house at 11 o'clock. To be honest, I think he was sorry to see us go. He informed us that he was going to travel to Earth to apply for a job with a physics laboratory. He's a scientist here in the city working on theoretical particle dynamics and astro-research. I think it's an easy way to get to see the universe if you ask me.

Maybe we'll meet again one day.

Porthos and I departed and spent the afternoon taking in the sights of the River Tennes. On Earth, this would be the River Thames in Britain (I think the name degenerated after the scientists died 400 years ago). It flowed out into the sea where a boat was going out to some settlement across the Channel. A tower shot into the air what seemed like fifty stories. It may not have been like England back home, but these people had something they could be proud of. Security at the Air Hangars [sic] gave us a bit of a thorough search. They looked through our ship and discovered a few weapons that we kept in case of attack. We were questioned by a constable about what we intended to do, but we explained that as a military matter, we were required to carry some form of protection. This banter cut our departure time back by thirty minutes as they cleared us before leaving. It gave us some time to download some historical and cultural information from the Air Hangar databases. We loaded up nearly 120 gigs of info. This'll come in handy when we fully document what's on this planet.

We finally got on at 1 PM and lifted off a few minutes later on the way back to Knothole. I've just received a message stating my PDA has been fixed! It'll be waiting for me when I head back to the castle! I'll still be roaming the planet for a month or so before they ship me back to the pyramid. I hope Knuckles isn't too lonely back there! I might still be exploring, but nothing else will be put in this log for now. I'll send back a few interesting tidbits should they come by!

Signing off for the last time on this thing!

/End Entry/


	25. Entry 25: October 3rd, 3234

Temporary Soldier's Log

1LT C.

Entry Made on October 3rd, 3234

0900 hours

/Begin Entry/

Well, it sure feels good to have this journal back again. I thought the Human was never going to-

Wait-

What?

What is this? _WHAT IS THIS? WHAT DID HE DO TO IT?_

THE FONT! FORMAT! EVEN THE SETTINGS! WHAT DID HE DO TO MY JOURNAL?

Oh, I am going to kick his ASS!

Lieutenant, one day I'm going to play this message to you so that you know what happens when you MESS WITH MY JOURNAL! _YOU_!

(ID-UKN) Wha... me, Highness?

Yeah you! Tell me where he is!

(ID-UKN) Who...?

Lieutenant Christopher Vennettilli! Tell me where he is!

(ID-UKN) Lieutenant Vennettilli? Last time I saw him he was in the rec hall.

Hmm. Satisfactory. Beat it before I kick your ass too.

(ID-UKN) What the hell is going on...?

HEAVY BREATHING

Stupid, _STUPID_ Human! I give him my journal and what does he do? He practically changed the software! He practically changed the whole thing! I don't even want to KNOW what's in his Pictures folder! Where's the Lieutenant?

(TAILS) Aunt Sally, what's up?

Don't 'what's up' me! Where's the Human?

(LT VENNETTILLI) Some one call me...?

YOU!

(LT VENNETTILLI) Oh no...

Oh yeah, oh no! Fix it!

(LT VENNETTILLI) I got Tails to fix it for me.

You were _IN_ on this?

(TAILS) Is that my Bunsen burner overheating? I gotta run!

MILES! For God's sake...!

Christopher? Come here.

(LT VENNETTILLI) Don't hurt me!

[DELETED TIMEFRAME ~25 MINUTES: AUTHORIZATION: ACORN, S.A.]

OK. I'm cooled down now, and I think the Human will think twice before altering the code of _SALLY'S JOURNAL_!

GASP (LT VENNETTILLI) _You just stay the hell away from me!_

DOOR CLOSING

Heh heh heh! I don't think I yelled like that in months! I think he gets the gist of it now! He'll have it fixed by the next time I need to make an entry. Humans are so easy to persuade, especially when you threaten to throw him into Robotropolis and hang a 'Roboticize Me' sign over his neck! I think he'll have nightmares for a week!

Mission accomplished!

/End Entry/


	26. Entry 26: October 5th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: October 5, 3234

Entry Made 1420 (2:20 PM)

Dear Journal,

It's good to have the journal back to it's original format. It's good that I can look at the header and be assured that this is my journal we are dealing with. I had to stare at that for a whole other day, afraid to make an entry because I thought the code modification was permanent. OK, onto some good news for today.

Over the past couple months, disturbances all around Northamer have fallen sharply. We're getting called less and less because of robot attacks. We still go out anyway to free a group of roboticized Mobians with the Sword of Acorns, but even then, we're finding less need for it nowadays. I think that by forcing Robotnik into hiding (he is not dead. I am sure of it.), we've made the flunkies fall into line. Hmph, cowards.

The Lieutenant left for the Far East the other day. I think he might be headed for the Dragon Kingdom. He'd better watch his back over there, lest he get a shuriken in the back.

OK I jest, but still, it's a safe precaution to exercise. I know he keeps that Desert Eagle on 'hair trigger' mode. If anything, I feel a bit scared for anybody who tries to jump him. No, really. I don't want to think about it. Do the math, a highwayman versus a trained marine who's gone through a campaign and a robotic cruiser, all within the last five years. Poor highwayman better dig his own grave first.

We received our first ship today from the UNSC as a gift for joining the Alliance! The ship, an _Apocalypse_-Class frigate was christened the _Alexander_ II, after our ship we lost a year ago when its reactor breached. It can never replace the ship we lost, but it feels good that we're strengthening our fleet. Right now, it's the only UNSC ship out there that's totally manned by a Mobian crew. They had to bring in trainers to teach the Navy personnel here how to properly use the systems, cryo-tubes, and Slipspace drives. Our people haven't even seen FTL flight before. Their training might take some time, but the Humans have insisted that we do not use FTL flight in our system for the time being.

Who are they to tell us this? It's our space! I hope they have a good reason for telling us this! I'll have to look into this more.

Now onto the bad news. This is only a rumor, but I'm treating anything I hear as a bad sign. According to what a crewmember of a Human freighter told Spaceport security, there might be evidence that Robotnik might be hiding out on an Outer Colony trying to convince followers to join him. Granted, this guy was pretty wasted in the Spaceport, and I've learned to take claims from drunk people lightly. So when I heard the exact same rumor from another ship crewman (who I must add was completely sober), I started to get a little nervous. I've asked my father to contact Admiral Andsworth about this, but he told be that it might be a week or two before he could get the message, and another two weeks for it to get back. Beautiful.

Perfect. So the worst threat to Mobians is just loose over there, gathering madmen and xenophobes to unleash on us. Just beautiful. He's probably just going to roboticize them in the end anyway.

Bring it on, Buttnick. We kicked your ugly butt once, we can do it again.

::END ENTRY::


	27. Entry 27: October 9th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: October 9, 3234

Entry Made 1015 (10:15 AM)

Dear Journal,

I have it! I know why they won't let us explore our solar system! I've been skimming some databases, and I found a research paper. It's a bit pre-mature to be making these kinds of assumptions, but I have to say, I think I agree with them. Just read for yourself.

* * *

><p><em>Analysis of Mobian Level of Technological Achievement in Relation to the Level of Humanity<em>

_By Dr. Quinton H. Butler, PhD_

_University of Edinburgh, Scotland, Earth_

_The technological level of humanity following the end of the war in 2553 has been severely reduced in a move that counted as genocide to humanity, leaving a miniscule fraction of the population left on Earth and surrounding planets. A moment of relief ensued as humanity realized with shock that they had dodged a major bullet with the victory over the Covenant forces. However, the real work of reconstruction began. In a swift move that was considered to be a miracle on the level of near divine intervention, the widespread discovery of artifacts being alien in origin belonging to an alien race known as the Forerunners empowered Humanity to rebuild what was once lost. Forerunner machines were able to terraform broken and burned worlds in a matter of decades, such as the historic restoration of Reach in 2589, or the Healing Wave of 2614 when a discovery of many such terraforming craft were sent into human space with the help of Sangheili and Unggoy allies. _

_By 2800, humanity had reclaimed many of their lost worlds such as Dwarka, Jericho VII, and New Constantinople, discovering a myriad of new worlds to boot with upgrades detection methods that had been considered vastly outdated at the time of the 2553 Armistice. Humanity's population exploded, numbering the hundreds of millions; one in three people had produced a child to repopulate new worlds and bring humanity to levels and surpassing the pre-war levels. With faster FTL travel and even more advanced medical technology, humanity was expanding farther than ever before, living longer than better before, and were becoming much more adapted to the environments of different planets and space. _

_A curious note is why old technology is still used such as ballistic weapons technology and crude wheel-driven transport. One can answer the first point with the reasoning of simplicity and cost-effectiveness. Ammunition cartridges consisting of casings and bullets are far less expensive to manufacture than particle weapon charges or a plasma rifle. Modifications of old Covenant weapons have been seen, but it seems that Humanity is far too fond of the conical bullet, which remains a very powerful armor-piercing and anti-personnel weapon. Lasers are seen, but not very much in large numbers. Some starships carry pulse lasers adapted from old Forerunner weaponry which has proven far more effective against Covenant Remnant, but once again, ballistic weaponry is cheaper to produce and easier to maintain. As for the second point, wheel travel is not the only form of transportation. Skycars do exist in which antigrav drives similar to those of Covenant make do exist and are seen in large numbers around major megacities such as New York, Chicago, London, Beijing and dozens of others around the world and beyond, but ground cars still fit in as being cheaper and more reliable. The possession of a flight-capable personal vehicle seems more like a status symbol rather than an attribute. _

_So, how does this all relate with the new human offshoot race called Mobians, discovered in mid-3234 due to an accidental Slipspace transition? At first glance, the Mobian's technological appearance cannot be ruled as anything other than human. Building structures have the distinct 'glass-box' international style that is seen in hundreds of human cities. Buildings with wider bases and thinner tops (especially seen in New York and Dubai) are seen less here. Looking past appearances, one can see after some digging that Mobians actually retain a tech level that is primitive compared to Humans today. Mobian early history revolves around the arrival of Matthew Mobius, a semi-deity to the Mobians that arrived in 2180, ten years before the Shaw-Fujikawa drive was invented. Mobians were created or more accurately 'uplifted' when a cloud of exotic radiation scrambled the DNA of animal subjects on board. While regular humans saw attribute increases, the animal specimens achieved evolution at lightning pace, achieving full sapience within a century, an act that defies science. _

_Since this new race and their human caretakers were cut off from the motherworld, they were not able to bask in the new technological ahcievements of Earth, such as the successful inception of the Shaw-Fujikawa drive, the advent of full fusion energy and First Contact (as bloody as it was) and arrived on a world that was completely devoid of humans following an extinction event by a race of aliens known as the 'Xorda' according to whatever surviving history text lasted ten thousand years after the invasion. _

_The fact of the matter was that the Mobians had no new technology and nothing to scrounge, so they were forced to use the technology of the time. In terms of weaponry, early Mobian military used the Colt M4 series of assault rifles and the AK-47, which are strangely still used today despite heavy cosmetic change. In terms of general technology, the current class of Mobian tech actually devolved following what is known as the Dark Ages when a nuclear winter occurred in the 2300s where the tech level was effectively reset, causing whatever advanced devices to perish in nuclear fire. Levels have increased thanks to the arrival of modern-day Humans, but they are still low enough to be curious with a species capable of space flight. _

_Space technology is nothing short of miraculous using the power of the Chaos Emeralds, which are extraterrestrial in origin (possibly Forerunner or Precursor in origin, but that is debated), but a species with 22nd Century technology is unlikely to possess FTL flight (a constricted version) without Deus Ex Machina which the Chaos Emeralds serve. Mobians have expanded relatively short and still within their solar system. Manned missions to New Mars have been completed and terraformation has been considered, but the Mobians are only happy to expand within our universe as well since we have the technology to go into the galaxy anyway. This prompts the question why we should not simply give Mobians Human ships to go into their own galaxy anyway? _

_There are three reasons as follows: _

_1. The Mobians simply do not want to given the ready presence of a widely inhabited empire spanning thousands of lightyears (meager in comparison to the size of the galaxy, but massive to the inhabitants of a single planet). If the Mobians share an imperialistic attitude with Humanity which is strongly suspect, they were go where they know a fortune and fame will be made, namely our universe._

_2. The Mobians are not ready to be given their own ship seeing how they are so new to the galactic stage (currently only a few months since discovery), becoming the quickest integrated race in history, although some are still xenophobic of the anthros on a large scale. When the Mobians have truly proven themselves that they can thrive on their own, they will be given their own ships. Some consider that this goal is the terraformation and colonization of New Mars, which is projected to take fifty years at the most with Forerunner technology aiding them._

_3. Stephen Hawking's theory of hostile alien life in the universe. If one is in the jungle, do they call out for help? What if a hostile alien race is present in the Mobian galaxy? This is true in our universe with the Covenant, but there might be something far worse in the Mobian galaxy. The Xorda, which was said to have driven Humanity to exitinction might still be present and possibly might come back to finish the job. If the survivng texts are to be believed, Humanity is not seen in good light to the Xorda, and they might make it a point to attack us. When one looks at it this way, this is the best theory to explain why Mobians should recieve restricted technological access in their own universe. _

_In the end, the Mobians are somewhat seen as a time capsule race. They are us at an earlier time when we were making our way, and their evolution has mirrored ours in many ways. Regardless of their level of technology, the Mobians always teach something about ourselves, and what we can do to ensure that both our races and others coexist in relative peace and continue to exist in this hostile universe._

* * *

><p>I have to say, this guy Butler, really has some interesting arguments, but it isn't right to constrict us. As he said, we have an imperialistic attitude. Sooner or later, we're going to think Mobius is too small for us, and we'll venture out.<p>

But, what if we DO encounter the Xorda? They destroyed this planet once. What if they do it again? Even worse question, what will happen once they discover the Warpgate? They'll have a chance to destroy more worlds! We can't let that happen!

Ugh, maybe I'm just thinking too much. Isn't that the sign of a well-written paper? You start to wonder about it in everyday life? I think I need a shower. My hair's feeling a bit scruffy, and I think some warm water might help me relax. Hey Sonic. Did you hear about the rumors?

(SONIC) Don't believe anything those inebriated cargo-haulers believe.

That other guy wasn't drunk though.

(SONIC) Still, you gotta keep an upbeat behavior like me, Sal! Way past cool!

Yeah, way past cool. Go jump off a cliff or something, get your adrenaline flowing.

(SONIC) As you command, Highness. I'm out!

SWISHING/FOOTFALLS

Gotta maintain a positive attitude. God knows I need it right about now.

::END ENTRY::


	28. Entry 28: October 12th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: October 12, 3234

Entry Made 1220 (12:20 PM)

Dear Journal,

Back in space again! I think with what's going on here recently, I think a bit more exploration is in order. I need to see a bit more of the Great Unknown. I'm back to exploring Human space again, which seemed to bother Sonic a little bit. He wondered if I was turning into something of a Human fanatic. While I am curious of the Ancients, I had to let him know that in no way am I thinking of Humanity as superior than us. I'm simply curious.

He then proceeded to ask me about why I wouldn't explore my own solar system. I explained to him that basically, it wasn't very exciting here tell you the truth. I mean, Murcury is too hot, Venusia is just not pleasant, New Mars is too cold, Jupiter is creepy, especially with that red tinge, and Saturn doesn't even have those rings that they were supposedly famed for. I guess when the Xorda attacked 12,000 years ago it must have blown them all away. What a shame. I would have dreamed to see the rings of Saturn in all her glory. Guess I'd never get the chance now.

It's just so lonely out there. I can see why the Humans wouldn't be so eager to go out there either. It's just a haunting thought that what they would see as big population centers back home would be devoid of life, never even colonized in the first place. There's the theme of a good book. The only thing that was ever out there were the Overlanders, and we haven't even heard from them in 15 years when they left using experimental warp drives. Good riddance. I heard stories of an ancient Earth starship launched before the Xorda attack called Voyager. It supposedly carried a crew of around a few hundred people as a generation ship. I don't know where it is now, but it could quite possibly be beyond the heliopause of the sun. If we could one day find Voyager, see what happened to those people*.

I guess another reason that I won't explore our universe yet is because... I think I'm taking Doctor Butler's paper to heart. What's out there? Are we ready for it? What if the Xorda's out there just... watching us? Watching how we evolve and deal with the Humans? What if they were watching us the whole time, waiting for us to read a level of technological dominance and then come along to pull the rug from under our feet?

Redirecting topic. Mom and Dad were a little bit nervous about me going back there since news is spreading about us Mobians to the farther reaches of Human Space. The Outer Colonies and the Sagittarius Arm are not aware of us, but perhaps that is for the best. When you're that far away from the home-world, anything could be exaggeration diluted through a thousand light-year game of Telephone.

I boarded a ship called the _Exeter_, which was a small _Philadelphia_-Class Corvette, Hull classification number K-431. We have similar naming on our ships too. The Commander of the vessel was named Sobel**. Now, unlike Commander Goldberg who was very nice to the guys, and me, Sobel was a Class-A dick. He was rude, obnoxious, and above all RACIST. This man despised us on first glance, and I had no earthly idea why! Was it because we were anthropomorphized animals? If so, that can be talked about, but to be downright racist and short with me? Oh HELL no. If I hadn't wanted to get back out there that badly, I would have walked back down the gangplank. The best thing about being the passenger on the ship was that you could avoid the captain.

The _Exeter_ left Earth's orbit at around noon and made it to the L5 Lagrange point between Earth and the Moon (Gravity cancels out here). It was there that we made the jump to Slipspace. It was really dark in there; there was nothing to look at, nothing to see. Just black. I suppose that's what happens when you go faster than the speed of light. I at least expected blue shifted stars. Guess real life FTL can't be as exciting I guess.

Now, Deneb was around 1400 lightyears away. Here was the stupid part. Since it was so far away, and because our ship was a teensy corvette, we needed to be put in cryo. We would have to be frozen. Now, cryosleep is natural for any Human I guess. It's a way of preserving your body through long journeys, which can be really helpful if you need to send out a rescue beacon. I only learned a few minutes before being frozen that skin, and in my case fur, often bonded to the polymers in clothing, which could cause painful upon removal.

So, I would need to go into cryo _naked_.

I realize this is all routine to a Human. Get in, strip, turn into TV dinner, thaw and then dress back up. I'm not too sure about this. I have thoughts... never mind.

So there I was in the cryo bay, a bit embarrassed about what I had to do, but nobody else seemed to feel it. They were joking and wishing each other 'good night' and such. A bit childishly, I waited for everyone else to freeze until I undressed. Knowing that a skeleton crew manned the ship, I wondered if anybody was watching. Then I was in, slamming the hatch shut and waiting for this sleep to take me.

Warm air flooded into the chamber. It was beautiful. I felt drowsy, and then something pricked me in the arm. It was glucose, which would prevent my blood from freezing and puncturing cell walls, which I am quite sure would have killed me. Suddenly, it talked to me.

_"Would you like some music?"_

_"That would be wonderful." I said. "Do you have Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No.2?"_

Soon, the speakers were pumping out beautiful piano keystrokes and strings. Classical music was always a favorite for me. Soon I was asleep, thinking of nothing but the cooling air around me. Then I was gone.

I had only one dream that I remember. I was in a field on Mobius. The flowers were in bloom and I was just sitting there admiring them. Soon, I saw a glimmer in the field. It was a Chaos Emerald. I rushed to it, trying to grab it, but the thing just moved. It kept moving away from me as soon as got close. My fist clenched it, but as soon as it did, it burst into flames. Suddenly, the whole valley was on fire. Within minutes, it was all burned down. Then there was a hooded figure standing over me.

That's when I started to wake up.

It wasn't a scary dream. I was just curious about what it meant. If I were serious about this, I'd be reaching for a dream interpretation book, but I'd rather confess it to a diary. So our cycle was ending. We arrived at Alpha Cygni, _Deneb_ in monkey terms (I'm sorry Kahn, it's only a saying). Unlike last time when I could just wait for everybody to leave, we all woke up at the same time. I just lay there in my tube a little but embarrassed with everyone walking around... exposed.

I'm sure they were staring, but I didn't just want to lie there like an even bigger idiot.

One of the crewmembers, a Marine named Susana Ramirez came up to me. She extended the hand of friendship and wanted to know if I wanted to go back to her quarters and play a hand of cards. I was a bit lonely on the ship with everyone being back home. Ramirez was really nice. She was a good Marine, a good person, but when it came to cards? I think I had her there! I took thirty credits off of her before I asked about currency.

Human economics are even more puzzling than there thousands of cultures. The United Earth Government uses a universal tender unit, the Credit, which is used everywhere. On certain planets in certain regions, some people may use local currency. The only reason I asked is because a few months ago, Christopher asked bet a hundred dollars against me that Earth wasn't in ruins. Since I don't have 100 dollars still, I don't think I need to pay that tab anytime soon. Heh, the hairless ape probably forgot about it!

I was assigned quarters near the end of the ship, possibly courtesy of Commander Sobel. Jerk.

It was a pretty big room though. Well, as big as you can get on a Corvette if you don't mind the coolant pipe going across your ceiling. There was a small bathroom tucked into the corner. Puny thing, no shower or anything like that. Showers were public. After the cryobay, I think I rather stink than go in front of those guys.

I remember one day, the Humans, the Lieutenant and Hecks, we were in Kayro, and it was a scorching 120 degrees! We were trying to get a Chaos Emerald, and they were sweating up a storm! By the time we boarded the Pelican, there was so much BO in the air it could choke a SWATbot! I know, it doesn't make sense, right? I was too polite to say anything, but I was about ready to open a window at 120,000 feet to freshen the place up!

Ramirez invited me to her quarters again where I am recording this journal on her bunk. Her roommate, Bradley Rawlings, a tech who works on Deck 5 came to visit us. He was surprised with me, could have had a look in his eye that said 'you're cute, let's date', but instead gave Susana a friendly hug and told him about his day. Nice guy actually. Wouldn't mind sitting down for a drink some time with him.

So, now I hear we're getting close to Deneb. I'm looking out the window for the first time and _HOLY JESUS_! Ramirez! We're going to hit the star! Call up the brid-

Wait, what? We're nowhere near it? How _large_ is this thing?

Three - wait, wait, _THREE HUDNRED TIMES_ the radius of the Sun? Planets orbit _THIS_?

I think I need a drink already.

::END ENTRY::

* * *

><p><strong>*Sally's idea of what Voyager is was way off. It was nothing more than a probe launched in 1972. By 12,000 years, it will be in the middle of nowhere. <strong>

****I learned from a reviewer on DeviantART that Sobel was an unintentional shout-out to Herbert Sobel, who you may remember from Band of Brothers. Apparently, Sobel in real life also had the tendency to be a jerk and an honorable man at the same time! Freaky! **


	29. Entry 29: October 18th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: October 18, 3234<br>Entry Made 1832 (6:32 PM)

Dear Journal,

Well, I'm convinced that Hell has a piece of Eden orbiting it. We're at Deneb, a massive white giant three hundred times the mass of Sol. I just can't wrap my head around it. I've seen Arcturus. Arcturus was big, no doubt. This though, this is unfathomable. Now, when I say Eden, I mean the only habitable planet in this system, and that is barely habitable.

Brunaji is a world lucky to be in one piece given this planet's history. Its atmosphere contains the bare limit of oxygen needed to support Human life. It's a tidally locked planet, meaning that only one side gets sunlight and the other doesn't. The side we are not on is an inferno of bubbling tectonic material, a liquefied crust, and sunblasted winds. The heat that we are feeling comes directly from the sunward side. Since this sun is so big, Brunaji is actually in a state of constant twilight with sunlight we can get from the _other side of the planet_.

The capital planet on this city is called Luka. It has a population of 114,000 people who specialize in farming and scientific study of Deneb. The main source of vegetation on this rock is the naturally growing Denebia plant, which looks somewhat like lettuce, except it glows a bit in strong UV light due to a chemical in it. It tastes great in soups too!

Brunaji's main terrain, even in this environment, is rolling hills. A unique plant on this world called the _Tulipa Denebus_ reacts in the UV light that leaks around the world's horizon. It glows in lavender light which is beautiful to look at. I found myself at a balcony of the hotel I was at just staring into the wilderness trying to count the waving lights for as far as I could see. It was breathtaking. Everything was perfect. The sunlight, the environment, the air temperature.

I wish Sonic was here. He could see all that this place had to offer.

If only he didn't dislike Humans so much. He probably doesn't see what they're capable of yet. I have to say that I didn't think he was this big of a nitpicker when it came to aliens. I guess it makes sense once you consider that nobody on our planet has ever seen an alien aside from Chao.

And I don't think anybody ever thought THOSE were threatening.

Luka is laid out just like any other city with suburbs and a city center which is connected by walkways and monorails. There are also peculiar spots in the city called D-Chargers. I learned from reading an informative information panel that these were places where people paid to visit areas that charged one's Vitamin D so that people remained cheery when I talked to them. Come to think of it, I wonder what the lack of sunlight would do to people. I know that if it were that much of a problem, people would move closer to the terminator and just suck up the sun there. Nah, but even then they could be exposing themselves to extremely high temperature.

I'm in one of the city's recreational areas, a park where a fountain is behaving most curiously. Apparently, there is an anti-gravity generator that blasts a short wave of water from one side of a seemingly flat panel to the other. Turns out, there panels are actually water that have been forced to one side by alternate gravity directions!

Damn, I got to get one of those.

Tomorrow... I guess, we head out into the forests to see if we can reach what the locals think of as a spiritual spot. Five hundred years ago, a group of Jesuits left the city to build a church in the middle of the forest. According to legend, the tree they built it around was a gigantic thing that glowes entirely! The trees, the trunk, and even the branches! I don't know how such a thing is possible, but the legend stated that the tree was in a natural clearing, as if God had swept away the forest just for them!

I don't know about God tilling away at the land like that, but I think I have to see for myself if this legend is real or not. They can put it on Sobel's tab for all I care! Ha!

::END ENTRY::


	30. Entry 30: October 19th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: October 19th, 3234<br>Entry Made 1234 (12:34 PM)  
>18:15 PM LOCAL TIME (of 20 hours)<p>

Dear Journal

**THE QUEST FOR THE LAVENDER GIANT: DAY 1**

Ha ha! How's that? We have an adventure on our hands!

We set out from Luka this morning! Our guide's name is Harry Grub Slayer, and I'm not exactly sure whether it's a title of scorn or honor. Harry's a bit too far out here to have heard of Mobians so he was a bit surprised when I introduced myself to him. His exact reaction was a leap so that he hit his head on his overhead filing cabinet. I had to giggle as he went around swearing in an outrageous accent.

"Geeaisus Kuhrist in Heeaven, Yooou Sown of a Byaich!"

I then took ten minutes explaining what I was to him. That was an extremely slow ten minutes. After I told him about what I was looking for, he laughed bit.

"You looking for that legend'ry church thay got out heere? Shucks. People thought abouwt it, but nobody's even thouwght to look."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Aww shucks, everyone thinks about getting their daily dowsage of Vit-D so thawt they don't go all crawsy on each other."

"They get angry?"

"Pissed, but yeh, they get a bit rowdy. Hell, you're one of the few adventurers left on this planet, I'd bet. tell youw what, you're my first real customer is weeks. Some folks just buy some ammo when they go out on the plane to hunt animawls."

"Well, how about we go have an adventure then, Harry?"

"Sounds good, Princess!"

An hour later, we were on the road. Harry's Crawler was a six-wheeled ATV that would normally seat around eight, but it was just me and him. Harry was a great driver and took every opportunity to show off.

We hit a hill and sailed around twenty feet. That Crawler could really fly. I have to admit I did yip for a second as we were in the air. We thumped down and kicked up a bit of glowing grass.

"How's youwr heart rate, Princess?"

"I'm breathing if that's what you're asking!"

I was locked in a car with a space redneck. This was not going well, or so I thought. After a few more jumps and a few more jokes from Harry, I started to get a bit more comfortable.

"So Harry, why do they call you the Grub Slayer? That sounds like they're making fun of you."

"It's what youw Earth folk... err Mowbius folk think of as teensy-tink bugs. You ever see a Denebian Groud Crawler before? Them suns of biatches can grow to ten feet long, have skin three inchess thick, and have a proboscis about as thick as my arm. Fucker damn near tore my head off one time it did. Took my prize wood carver, Jessie out of her sheath and slammed it right into his head. Owh, green blood shooting everywhere, and I had to work it in there. It still had its tongue wrapped around my arm three minutes after I killed it. Nastiest thing you ever saw!"

I think I may have wet myself after that.

Ten foot grubs? Green blood? PROBOSCIS AS BIG AS MY FOREARM?

I had to keep cool. But then I wondered who, oh WHY wasn't something like this mentioned in the tourist catalogue?

Then I remembered. Heh, right. It would scare all the tourists away. Now I know why most of them stayed in the Rolling Planes or the city itself.

We approached the tree-line. Apparently, trees gathered where water was richest, which was in clumps near these wooded areas. Most of the trees were non-glowing though. Their trunks were straight, marked with straight jagged inlets where water and sap flowed through. This was all natural on this world and it turns out that this sap eventually hardens to make new bark! Well! That was an interesting botany lesson for the day!

We drove for a straight hour after entering the trees. Harry had a camp that was further up a rough road. He set up a small ring of buildings he liked to go through whenever he had an adventurer with him. He called it Camp Honeysuckle, for some reason he always laughed about.

I don't want to know.

We killed the engine and parked in the center. He handed me a small survival rifle.

"Ever handle a piece before, Highness?"

"I did. I once assaulted a flying factory and totally blew it up!"

Harry looked at me for a second. "You military?"

"I guess you can say that."

"I was in the military once. I was a young man with an urge to kill! I got on my first alien planet with a naame that sownded like sumone was gargling salt water and killed thirty aliens in one day. But it wunt enough! One day, one guy, Cleaver made me so angry I knocked his head off and was thrown out on a Section 8!"

I just looked at him with my hand wrapping around the gun.

"Nah, I'm just kidding! Just making jokes! That was funny was't it?

No. Actually quite creepy, especially in the dark woods.

We loaded up. Harry told me we would have to leave the Crawler. I asked him why and he said that it was a federal crime to cut down trees. The government wanted to preserve this unique forest ecosystem so they limited development to areas already cleared naturally. There wasn't room for your house? Build it somewhere else or face a major fine.

I actually had respect for this government. Unlike some, it had respect for such a unique biosphere. See Sonic? Humans can be good! I don't have doubt that there could be a few illegal settlements in this forest though. Laws were there to be broken and I'm sure people did a fair bit of breaking. I asked Harry about it.

"Sure, there's a few illeegal houses out here, but if they're feew and far b'tween, the government won't mind it much. In fact, my friend Billy lives around here somewhere. he usually has a lamp out to scare creatures away."

"Does Billy have a nickname too?"

Harry laughed. It was nice because it was such a warm sound. "No, no. William Halliday's a good man who has a family. He makes his living out here raising trees and shipping them to spaceports where they can be sold off-world. Selling plants ain't illegal and he makes a pretty good living. Managed to afford a UV lamp! He's growing Poplars next season!"

This planet was a strange place, one of the strangest places I have ever seen. Illegal homesteads, grubs with huge tongues, and trees that glowed purple in the night. Well it was fair to say that these trees did not glow in the slightest. The straight trunks only had wispy leaves on them that were black. That's a _great_ color when you needed to see in the dark. Thankfully, there was a bit of space where the sunlight could come through, but we had flashlights just in case.

Harry brought me to a small clearing where he built up two tents.

"There's a river nearby where you can wash up if you need to. I'm going to go hunt for some dinner. There's a bit of food here, but in a few days we'll need to catch dinner. You game?"

"I was tought how to survive in the wild. Just don't make me eat any squirrels; my conscience has a bit of trouble digesting them."

"HA! I like that! I get it! It's OK though. No squwirrels at all in this system, unless you count the Sting-glider. Huge eyes, watch ouwt for the tail. I reccomend you zip your tent shuwt when you go to sleep. See you soon!"

He went off into the forest, presumably to look for food. Even though he was a bit quirky, Harry seemed to be a good man who was just excited to get out there and see new things. He was just a little stur-crazy. A good adventure was what he needed.

I'm getting sleepy. I think I'll have a bit of that sandwich I brought with me. It's got some turkey in it so maybe it'll put me out.

Night night.

::END ENTRY::


	31. Entry 31: October 20th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: October 20, 3234<br>Entry Made 2322

Dear Journal,

**THE QUEST FOR THE LAVENDAR GIANT: DAY 2**

Now, as a forewarning here, I have decided to stop using an outrageous accent when I talk about Harry. It might offend him, and that's not the impression that I want to make with anybody! So, onward we go!

I awoke in twilight and I wondered as if I barely got any sleep at all. I had to check my watch to see if I was dreaming or not, and it turns out that I wasn't dreaming at all. There in bright LED light, my watch told me that it was nine o'clock in the morning. I nearly blinked in amazement as I looked in the sky and remembered that an alien starscape was looking down on me.

I had spent my first night on Brunaji and it didn't feel as if it passed at all. This tidally locked business is messing with my head, but I had to put it aside and move on. Harry wasn't in the camp, which meant that he was probably out getting breakfast or something like that. So, I decided to take a bath. There was a lake nearby that I could use to clean myself. The water was black but warm at the same time. I didn't bring any supplies of that nature, so no shampoo or anything. I was perfectly happy to bathe though.

I headed back to camp shaking my hair dry. Harry was sitting by a fire roasting some meat.

"Did you have a good bath?"

"How did you know?" I asked, a bit surprised and shocked.

"I assumed. You weren't here and you don't look like the type to wander off like an idiot. Plus your hair's wet."

I chuckled, as if I should have seen that coming. Smartass. "Yes, I did have a bath. The water was quite nice."

"Did you check for leeches?"

My eyes widened for a second. "_Scuzi_?*"

"Yeah, Darkwater Leeches. They're about ten centimetres wide and looove the taste of blood. Do a check, and check everywhere."

So I did. I checked _everywhere_ for those leeches. Thankfully I didn't have a single one on me.

"I hate leeches!" I cried out.

"Alydes looove leeches. On their world, they have a delicacy called _Haat_. It's kind of like spaghetti, but it moves."

"Alydes, those are the elf guys right?**"

"That's what we call them. Don't ever say that to their faces when you see them."

"Noted."

We decided the next course of action following our breakfast. Harry had caught some delicious leapers, which were... squirrel-sized carnivores with big glowing eyes. Apparently their white meat is succulent beyond belief. The dark meat will kill you though! And shame, I was so craving a drumstick...

It was great though, but Harry's no gourmet chef. Out here on Brunaji, I learned that there was a particular greasy spoon feel to some of the restaurants. The food seemed fatty to some degree. Oh, that was delicious, but I thought I could feel my organs shutting down one by one. Not exactly gourmet, but it was delicious.

As I got up to pack my stuff, Harry grabbed my arm. "Hey, I'm serious about those leeches though. Don't go swimming again until I tell you it's safe, alright?"

There was actual concern. I then realized in that brief second of eye contact that we were heading into some very dangerous wood.

Allow me to explain: Brunaji was settled five hundred and forty years ago after the Human/Covenant War. When the first ships came by, they noticed large natural clearings to set down in. They did so and the first cities on this planet were built. Nobody was really curious about what was in the Dark Forest, one of the largest on this world and it just happened to be a short fifty miles from the city I was in.

Now that I'm inside, I can see why people have avoided this place. After breakfast, me and Harry started to head deeper, working on nothing but the tiniest clue that the priests left when they started their journey. According to the notes we found, the Jesuits were heading towards the 'Second Sun'. That was a bit strange as Deneb is a single star system. Then it was when I glared at the sky that I saw it. It was a very bright star, with a twinkle like none other. The second sun. I think it might have been Sirius, which is the brightest star in the night sky.

Sirius was about due Northeast from the city. We decided to head that way until we couldn't see the sky anymore. Thank God that Harry had a compass. It was dark, almost pure darkness. Not even a bit of the reflected sunlight from the moons got to us. We were now in a different world entirely. I led the way. Harry tied a life-line around my waist and hooked it up to him too. If we got lost, we would be able to find one another. We almost did lose each other too. His flashlight was not pointed at me for two minutes and then I started to panic.

"Harry? _HARRY_! Where are you?" I cried out.

"I'm here highness. Your lifeline is still attached."

"I'm getting scared, Harry. I think we should turn around! _OH JESUS! WHAT'S THAT_?" I saw two pairs of glowing white eyes in the distance looking at me.

"Your highness, here's what I want you to do. I want you to sit next to this tree, unhook your lifeline, and stay absolutely still. I think I know what this thing is. Do not make another sound until I tell you to."

I did exactly what he said. I untied the rope and sat down. Harry disappeared into the darkness towards the eyes. I heard what sounded like a woman screaming. It must have been the beast. Harry drew his rifle and went towards it, talking to it as if it were a big baby.

"Come on, sweet thing. Time to turn around and go back to where you came from. Leave us alone-"

Suddenly the eyes moved. In the darkness, I could only see a thin outline, even with my night vision capabilities. Harry was on the move. He was running to the next couple of trees, taking potshots at the creature. I could tell right away that it was not one of the giant grubs that Harry was famous for killing. This was a beast of large proportions. I heard Harry cry out into the darkness and I felt my heart beat quicken. I'm not quite sure what went on, but the beast screamed into the night again. Then there was silence as I heard thuds.

When I felt Harry's hand on my shoulder, I screamed. It was frightening. The silence killed me, and the slightest input made me jumpy. He was covered with glowing green ichor, which I presumed was from the creature. He also smelled like someone dumped bilge water all over him. It must have been the smell of... whatever that thing was.

"You're alive!" I cried.

"They're gonna have to call me _Harry Demon Slayer_ now! That thing was the largest animal I've ever encountered on this rock and I've been here 30 years! Got its head here in my backpack!"

I fought the urge to get sick and let my curiosity slip past. "Its head? Well that bag better be large on the inside!"

"No, the eyes are actually on antenna-like things connected to the head. The mouth and nose are on the head. Strangest thing, really."

I looked into the darkness and I did still see the white eyes, glowing through some sort of bioluminescence. They were just sprawled in the darkness. I shivered.

"How the hell could _priests_ get this far?"

"I guess they were Chaplains!***" Harry Demon Slayer said. "Hey, what's that light up ahead?"

I turned my head. I saw it too now. I was so focused on this Demon thing to see it. It was there, a solid white light that actually changed the color of the leaves, as if it were on for many years. Centuries maybe.

It was a beacon. A mechanical device that must have been left by the priests in case some people came along this way. It was a metallic post with wooden arches connected to it. Carved in the wood were inscriptions. Some were in Latin, but my uplink computer had translation software. Here's the inscription:

THE HOLY BEACON

TRAVELLER, THE HOLY SPIRIT INDEED IS WITH YOU SHOULD YOU MAKE IT TO THIS HOLY MARKER. THIS IS THE STAKE THAT GOD HIMSELF COMMANDED US TO DRIVE INTO THE EARTH FOR ALL FUTURE GENERATIONS TO FOLLOW SHOULD THEY COME TO OUR FUTURE SITE OF WORSHIP, THE LADY OF THE LAVENDAR LAKE. KNOW THAT SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO CONTINUE, THE HOLY FATHER DOES PLACE HIS BLESSING ON YOU AND WATCHES OVER YOU. TO REACH OUR SACRED TEMPLE, EMBARK WEST AT 57 DEGREES AND CONTINUE IN THAT DIRECTION FOR TWENTY MILES. AT THE SIGHT AT THE TEMPEST FALLS, A SECOND MARKER WILL INSTRUCT YOU TO OUR TEMPLE'S RESTING PLACE.

GO IN PEACE CHILD. WE WILL MEET SOON,

BESTOWED UPON THIS LOCATION BY GRAND MINISTER BANNON ABARTH IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD, 2708, XXVCCVIII

REMEMBER THIS PHRASE, HONOR THYSELF, HONOR THY GOD

We read this in amazement. This simple beacon had stood the test of time to deliver future pilgrims to this mystical site. We were entranced by it. We wanted to touch it, but we argued against it. In the end, we figured that this was the best place to set up camp. This place felt safe. We felt as if we were protected here. I'm not sure whether it was God Himself or just the light and UV radiation put out by this device. I knew that I would sleep well here. I write this at what I would know as 11 PM. There's still a couple hours left till midnight, but I want a good rest. Tomorrow we'll be heading in the direction that the Beacon told us to.

Another day of adventure! I sincerely hope no more monsters get in the way!

::END ENTRY::

* * *

><p>*<strong>Italian phrase for 'Excuse me'. Foreshadowing?<strong>

****For more information on the Alydes, please read the Galactic Codex: 3238 Edition on the Alyde chapter**

*****40K joke. Hardy Har.**


	32. Entry 32: October 21st, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: October 21st, 3234<br>Entry Made 1915 (7:15 PM)  
>LOCAL TIME 0339 (of 20 hours)<p>

Dear Journal,

**THE QUEST FOR THE LAVENDAR GIANT: DAY 3**

OK, first and foremost, here's the most important thing today. Why the hell am I using a local time anyway? Why IS there a local time? We are on a tidally locked world! Time is irrelevant! There is no day or night to justify using a clock! That makes the entire concept of a local time utter bullshit! I guess it's just out of convenience. I wonder why they just don't use the 24 hour clock here, but hey, I won't look a gift time system in the mouth.

So according to this so called 'local time', it's twenty to one and I'm still wide awake. I've already adjusted to a sleep cycle, so this is a bit strange. I feel invigorated, as if I'm on an energy drip or something like that. I'm not tired. I feel... good!

I'm full of energy despite being in the middle of the 'night'. I'm ready to fight tigers! Anyway, According to the time, I've only been asleep for six hours? What? I feel like I've napped for a good ten hours! Huh, freaky. I'm starting to wonder if it might be because of this beacon thing I'm sitting next to. I wonder if it was giving me that 'feel good' energy. Harry woke up half an hour after I did with the exact same attitude. We were ready to head out on the direction indicated by the beacon; 57 degrees from North. We assumed that this was the way because when we faced that direction, there looked like there was a clearing in the trees. However, five hundred years of neglect and regrowth could change a landscape drastically. Harry led the way. After yesterday, I think that I'm feeling a bit apprehensive. Monsters like the one I saw last night could be anywhere. What if it had a family, or was part of a spawn or something? Nobody's ever wanted to go out this far into the woods, and the government has too much respect for this ecosystem to even want to study what's in here. You know, there's respect of the wilderness and then there's pure ignorance. I mean goodness, these guys make Mobians look like park rangers!

(DEEP BREATH) When you are in an environment that can present a clear risk to the inhabitants, you need to study the wildlife lest it munch on your ass. I am supremely pleased to say that we encountered nothing like what we saw last night following our departure from the Marker. We did see a group of bioluminescent animals that we called Fishflies. These animals looked kind of like small guppies with wings that beat like an insect's. They were kind of cute though, so I snapped a picture of them for back home.

You know, three days have passed and not once has calling the _Exeter_ crossed my mind. I guess I'm happier down here getting chased by monsters rather than take Commander Sobel's bullshit at face level, but I think I feel happier just being on my own rather than depending on a starship for support. I mean, I haven't been asked for my status, nobody has contacted me from on high, nothing. It's like they've forgotten me. But at the same time I know that these men do their duty. I know one of the stars up there is the _Exeter_. They'll be waiting for me. I guess Sobel's pretty happy insulting someone else's racial background for once. Mobius forbid that Sonic or Miles was on board. Sonic would have nowhere to run and Miles would simply talk so much Sobel would toss the poor guy out the airlock. I don't think those tails can twirl so well in vacuum.

Maybe I'm being a bit extreme, but sometimes Humans can scare me. In the past thousand years they've gone through famine, war, racism, genocide, and the rebuilding of an entire empire, and NOW, transuniversal travel. As if xenophobia against aliens wasn't bad enough, they have xenophobia against anthros from an Earth that had all humanity wiped out.

But I digress. An hour after we left our camp in the direction that was suggested, the trees started to get thinner. We were approaching a clearing that looked like it was natural. The grey grass that we were walking on soon turned into white rock. We were approaching an unnamed mountain that wasn't even visible to the capital city because of the huge trees. It was shaped kind of like a sloping peak. This area must have once had a glacier moving through it because the ground was nearly in the shape of a half pipe, and multiple karsts were shooting up all over the place.

Harry said that I focused too much on geology. I told him I focused too much on everything.

The Lonely Mountain, as I liked to call it, was about a couple thousand feet high, but then we saw waterfalls coming over a ridge.

"Princess, that could be it."

"The Tempest Falls?" I asked. "What gives you that idea?"

"Something about it." Harry said. "It kind of fits the description. Look on the plateau."

I saw it too. It was another beacon. We were getting close. Harry and I skittered along the beach of a lake. The water was ebony black, but it shone in the moonlight. I almost considered slipping in again, but then I remembered the leeches, and whatever else could be lurking down there. My backpack was starting to make marks in my skin. The straps were starting to sting through my fur.

"Harry, can we take five?"

"No problem, Princess." My guide said. "Like you said, we're getting close."

We rested on the beach. I skipped a few rocks into the water and just absorbed the warm air. Harry was looking over a computer, but then he said, "Hey! Watch the sky!"

I was curious as to why. "Where do you want me to look?"

"Towards the sunward side."

Soon there was a flash of light. It looked as if the sun were actually rising. But Brunaji was a tidally locked world. I can only assume that the sun must have flared or had an energy burst that gave us a bit more sunlight. This close, I wouldn't be surprised.

"It's beautiful." I said. "I can actually see now!"

"Deneb gives us a bit extra every couple of weeks. Some of the light reflects off the moons, and some light creeps along the terminator. You're looking at the closest thing to a sunny day here on the planet."

I watched the light creep up. It made me giddy seeing something like this at all. Suddenly, something really strange happened. The beacon on top of the falls began to blink, as if the sunlight were triggering something. We scampered up whatever rock face we could so that we could get a better view on things. Tempest Falls came from the top of the mountain, and the beacon was resting on a rock that split the waterfall in two. I ran up to it. Harry cautioned me that I might fall. I didn't remind him that I was a Mobian. I have a better sense of balance than the Humans. I could walk a tightrope across skyscrapers blindfolded.

When I jumped across the river, I nearly stumbled. I caught myself just fine. The beacon was larger than the one in the forest. It had solar panels meaning that whoever put this here had knowledge of what Deneb did every few weeks. I found what looked like a control panel. I tapped it and a holographic screen appeared. A recorded voice said,

"_This is the voice of Grand Minister Bannon Abarth. This is the beacon of our holy temple, Our Lady of the Lavender Lake. Those who have reached this point are blessed, but there is but a final test to determine access: Speak the phrase to reveal the entrance_."

Damn. A password was needed. I asked Harry what it was. He said that he had no idea. Suddenly my mind shot back to the Marker we saw the other day. The phrase near the bottom.

_Remember this phrase..._

I spoke, "Honor Thy Self, Honor Thy God."

Then, it asked me something else:

"_Are you pure of heart_?"

It was another test. I think it wanted to test my honesty and stress. Maybe it wouldn't have opened if some sound level didn't match.

"I am." I said calmly.

The waterfall then changed. A beam of light shot out of the cascade in the shape of a semicircle. The water parted and flowed around this light. The entrance into a cavern was visible. We were headed underground.

"Well I'll be damned." I heard Harry say.

I had to giggle at the irony of his remark. Here we were heading into the depths of the earth to find a bunch of monks. In all honesty, I don't think that Harry's ever had a better adventure.

"Harry what was that barrier exactly?"

"Dunno. All I know is that it's Forerunner technology."

"...And this is all just lying around?"

"They taught us that Humans were the chosen ones. They left all of their technology to us."

"Oh? That's a little disappointing." I said. I truly was a bit heartbroken. Humans were the special ones? Why couldn't we be special? Why couldn't we have a wealth of technology given to us? But I had to remember, we were given a gift greater than technology: We were given the gift of the Second Evolution. It was taught in the Church of the Ancients that we should be thankful that we have had the experience of evolving into an intelligent, upright form. Only Humans have had this pleasure, and we never forgot how thankful we were for everything our ancestors and Caregivers did for us.*

I thought it was a bit ironic that we were descending into the earth when we were supposedly looking for a church. I cracked, "Hey Harry, is it getting hot in here, or is it just me?"

"Just you. I'm cool when I'm walking into hell."

We joked, but then we got serious. I asked, "Do you believe in an afterlife?"

"Hmm, appropriate time to ask." Harry remarked. "I guess I do, but that's because I was brought up Roman Catholic."

"But do you now?"

He thought. "I don't know, I guess. I mean, here I am, all the way across the universe, and not only do I realize that we aren't the center of this universe, we're just as likely to get killed by it. Doesn't really give me that whole 'chosen people' feeling they talk about."

"So you're an atheist?"

"Naw, agnostic."

"I have a friend who's an atheist." I said.

"Yeah? I heard they're a real 'pleasure' to be around."

"He's not bad. He's just a little quick to anger. Actually he can be really nice if you give him a chance."

"Well the world needs nice people. You're in a rough line of work, Highness. Best be careful, or you'll be answering your own afterlife question... oh my God."

We got to a cavern. It was gigantic! The size of three or four football fields with a natural hole in the ceiling. Jutting through this hole was a tree hundreds of feet high. It glowed a bright lavender and cast its light on an underground lake. The tree that I've been looking for. It was the Lavender Giant.

"It's beautiful!" I said. I had to look. It was perfect. The tree, the water; a structure was built around the tree. It was the church that the legend spoke of. We ran towards it, just amazed by this place.

"I've never even seen these caverns on the orbital maps!" Harry said. "This is beautiful!" Harry's equipment told us that the tree's skin was, naturally, an organic makeup, but it also told us that it was active at that moment. It was feeling, perceiving, judging. I think this tree was _sentient_! A thinking tree!

I have to wonder now, was it an actual tree or some sort of life form? It had considerably less leaves on it, but it had plenty of branches. This thing is, for lack of a better term, alien to me. I looked at the tree for another few minutes, and then wondered where all of the monks or priests were. This was a holy temple yet there was nobody.

We walked to the chapel. It was circular, built around the massive base of the trunk. All of the letters were written in Latin. The translator said '_LADY OF THE LAVENDAR LAKE: MAY SHE OPEN OUR ARMS TO US IN HOLY SALVATION_'. It was poetic.

The inside of the church is pretty much what you would think of when someone mentions a church to you. There were four areas of worship, a ward, and a garden with flourishing plants, but where were the people? It was Harry who told me.

"Princess, here on the table."

He grabbed a book. It was a real book with paper. These were not as common in Human space, but they were still plenty according to Humans.

"Read the last page." He said in a low voice.

I turned and I learned:

'_Dated April 15__th__, 2807, Grand Minister Albarth Tolmek of Our Lady of the Lavender Lake,_

_I am one of the last few ministers alive, and I am not sure what is causing these massive infections. We believe that it might be an airborne virus or contamination, maybe from the tree. I've been in pain over the last few weeks. My lungs feel like they're on fire and I'm having trouble eating. Minister Doctor Luther has informed me that he has tried everything he could on me, and the infection will not relinquish itself. _

_How many more? How many more will die? Our ancestors came to this place to seek salvation and serve the Lord, but instead we've been infected by an alien virus. I don't think this was the way things were supposed to play out. Heh, look at me, questioning fate; a man of my stature thinking against the way of things. _

_My breathing grows harder ever day. It's like a boulder's placed on my chest. If we don't find a way to save ourselves soon, we may very well all die. About twenty of us went within the week, and the bodies are still piling up. Things are not safe for us anymore. We would have to run, but it has been so long. Nobody knows where to go. _

_If I should die, I wish to be with my ancestors in the Undercroft. I know that there, I shall be able to find some rest, and comfort in knowing that God has eternal life waiting for me. It just hurts thinking about this disease! _

_I'm coughing blood now. I need to see the Doctor. He'll give me the stimulant to stem the internal bleeding. _

_I feel tired. I can't close my eyes. Not while we still have a chance to -'_

The ink just trailed off the page, going right through a splotch of dried brown blood. This book had been on this table for over three hundred years, and there was very possibly nobody left alive in this entire place.

Suddenly this place had become very frightening. I was surrounded by a silent death. What had killed these people? What was in the air? What if I was breathing it in? WHAT IF I WAS NEXT? I was hyperventilating. Harry placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Get a hold of yourself, woman!" He said in a strong voice. "You're not going to die in here. We're pulling out!"

"Wait. There's just one thing we have to do."

"What?" my guide asked.

"Pay our respects."

We found the door to the Undercroft. It looked just like any other door in this place other than the design of an angel with arms outspread. This door gave me the creeps. It was unlocked.

I guess nobody was left alive to secure it.

The tunnels were lined with electronic lamps, the very least amount of technology in this place. I think that with proper devices, the ministers here may have had a better chance, but these people may very well have come here to escape technology. Boy did they pick a hell of a world to do it on.

The Undercroft was dimly lit, even with the lamps. It smelt like earth and slight bits of methane and ammonia. We looked around and used our equipment as our light source. And there we saw them. Strewn about the place were skeletons. Some of them were placed in positions of rest, sitting, even on that appeared to have a column in a death-grip (sorry). It was horrifying. I wanted to leave as soon as possible, but I knew that I needed to let these poor souls know that we were here. I know that this wasn't my religion, but these people died knowing in their hearts that they were doing the right thing and were trying their best to make everyone feel comfortable in their final hours. As macabre as it was, I was respectful of those who lay before me.

I asked the spirits of the Ancients to give protection and guidance to those who passed in this spiritual place. I asked the spirit of Mobius to give this place a blessing and the hope that this resting place was never disturbed. I knew that the corpse of Albarth Tolmek was amongst the dead. They deserved a better fate than this.

Then we left. I was glad to be out of that place. Let the dead rest, I say. Suddenly, I heard my COM gargle. I tried to make it out, but I couldn't.

"Come on, let's get outside!"

We ran up the stairs and flew out of the church. Then the message became clear:

"_Where the hell are you, Princess? Respond to this message ON THE DOUBLE!_"

I tapped my COM. "_Exeter,_ this is Acorn. Receiving your transmission five by five. What's the situation, Commander?"

Sobel was pissed and his voice said everything. "_You're asking me what the situation was? You've been gallivanting around plundering ruins! I've been trying to reach you for thirty minutes! You have some nerve!_"

"Commander, is this a courtesy call or do you need something?"

"_Your highness, you will make orbit _pronto_! We have received a Priority One message routed through Earth. He says he knows you_!"

"Send me a Pelican. We have a civilian that needs transport back to the city."

"_That's all I'm willing to do right now! We have engines heated. Make your way to this ship as SOON AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN!_ _Sobel OUT!_"

Harry laughed. "Charming guy."

"Racist jerk. He knows how to run a tight ship though." I said. "Any Pelican dropships in the area, over?"

"_That's a solid copy, Princess. Echo 337 inbound to your position. ETA is seven minutes. We're transporting a civilian back to the city_?"

"You got it."

"_Affirmative. Echo 337 inbound. Stand by._"

We waited for the dropship. Harry looked at the tree. "Well, wasn't that an adventure?" He said. He wasn't being sarcastic either."

"You're serious? After THAT?"

"This was the most exciting thing I've ever done in 30 years. Hidden churches? Monsters? Mystery? Dungeons? Hell, I just showed tourists landmarks! You've done something special for me: you revived the explorer's spirit within me, Highness. I thought it was dead for sure and I'd be down to selling useless knick knacks. Thank you for the last three days."

"Harry Demon Slayer. That's going to sound good when you brag about it!"

The Pelican came from the sky. Its search lights found us. The Crew Chief waved us forward. "Come on! The Commander wants you onboard _double time_!"

We ran in and strapped ourselves down. The craft rose into the air, and soon we left the Tempest Falls behind us.

"What were you guys doing there in the first place?" The Crew Chief asked. "That place was a graveyard!"

"Adventure." I said. "It didn't turn out quite like we expected."

"Tell me about it." The man said. "Sobel wanted me to tell you about the transmission."

"Give it to me."

"It's on your pad now."

I hit play, not knowing what to expect.

'_This is First Lieutenant Christopher Vennettilli, now the commanding officer of Bravo Company here on Hyperia. Captain Ramis has been killed in action, and I am assuming direct control of the unit. We're fighting robots here! Robotnik's robots. This message is directed to Sally Acorn, Princess of Knothole. If the _Exeter_ gets this message, tell her that we need her! She knows about these robots. We are under attack and will need assistance from her! Reinforcements are due to arrive in 48 hours, but they don't know these bots like she does! I've already got approval to pull you from your assignment as your Protector. _

_I've sent this message on October 18__th__. Hopefully when you get here princess, you won't find a pile of bodies. Vennettilli out_."

Harry leaned in. "Is that your friend?"

"He's military. He helped look out for me when things got ugly."

"How good friends are you?"

"I barely consider him a friend. We're not even on first name basis yet."

"Well you better get over there and help your friend out. If it's one thing, you need to stick together."

As we dropped Harry off in the city and sped back towards the _Exeter_ in orbit, I realized that he was very right. Friends need to stick together and the Lieutenant stuck his neck out for me before. Time to return the favour.

::END ENTRY::

* * *

><p><strong>*Actually, Mobians are able to use Forerunner technology because of their Human DNA. Forerunner AI will even call them 'Reclaimers', as seen in <em>Deception<em>, where the group enters the Library. **


	33. Entry 33: October 27th, 3234

**The name of the game is military simulation. It's all in delivery. I've tried my hardest to ensure that this would seem a likely military scenario, with a science fiction twist of course. Expect a lot of jargon.  
>On to the entry! <strong>

* * *

><p>Journal of Sally Acorn<br>Date: October 27th, 3234  
>Entry Made 0940 (9:40 AM)<p>

Dear Journal

[UNSC _EXETER_, K-431 ELECTRONIC MISSION RECORDER]

[AI ADJUTANT REPORTING, PROCESSING REQUEST FOR COMBAT REPORT w/ DIALOGUE, w/ COMBAT HEADINGS]

[REQUEST # KILO-3-2-Alpha-5-Tango-Hotel-1-Kilo-Lima-00-Alpha-Quebec-6 , VIA Shared Data Act, Clearance Code: Red Fox 1]

[PLAYBACK COMMENCING...]

PLAY

[PELICAN PILOT RECORDING T+00:05:18]

(Pilot) Party has landed at coordinates at T plus five minutes, eighteen seconds. Standing by for recon.

(EXETER) _Copy Golf 1, keep the eye on the Princess_.

(Pilot) Solid copy _Exeter_, bringing myself to three thousand feet for further observation.

[TARGET ADVANCING THROUGH FORESTED AREA]

(SALLY) _Golf 1, this is Sierra Actual*. You have eyes on us_?

(Pilot) Affirmative. Your objective is located two klicks northeast of your current position. Make your way across the forest to the NAV point we're dropping.

(S) _Copy, I see it_.

(RAMIREZ) _You told me about these robots. Why is this such a bad thing?_

(S) _Because these robots mean that Eggman is hiding out here somewhere. It's been around four months since our battle. Who knows if he's recruited anyone._

(R) _Don't make me think. Anybody with a name like Eggman sounds like a total lunatic_.

(S) _His real name is Julian Kintobor. He used to be highly regarded in our society, but he went rotten_.

(MARINE) _Oh I see what you did there._

(S) _Thank you. Pun not intended, but still. Sierra Actual to Bravo Actual, are you reading me_?

(R) _It's been almost ten days. Do you think he's still alive_?

(S) _I'd like to think not. He's one of our best men who knows about these robots. He managed to escape capture on his own too. _

(R) _He sounds resourceful_

(S) _And he's your superior officer. Make sure you show him respect._

(R) _How old did you say he was_?

(S) _21._

(R) _And he's a _Lieutenant? _What happened in the D.O.D. to let that slip by_?

(S) _Talahan happened_.

(R) _And I'm supposed to see that as a justification? He's a kid! I'm older than him and I'm still enlisted! _

(S) _Think of it as a matter of priority. Statistically speaking, he wasn't supposed to survive. _

(R) _Well, I guess that makes Hyperia a bit of a getaway from Talahan then_?

(G-1) Sierra Actual, you should be in COMs range now.

(S) _Copy Golf. Bravo Actual, this is Sierra Actual. How's it hanging, human_?

(VENNETTILLI) _Jee-Zus Christ. I know that voice! Is that the Upper Class come across the galaxy to save my sorry behind?**_

(S) _And we're in perfect position to leave if you don't want our help._

(G-1) Uh Sierra Actual, that's out of the question. We have a mission to complete.

(S) _Cool your jets, gentlemen. That was a joke_.

(G-1) Uh...copy Sierra. A joke... right.

(V) _Anyway, retreat is out of the question. We have a situation_.

(S) _How bad_?

(V_) You have an overseer, right? Ah, there you are! Hey pilot! I'm waving to you_!

(G-1) Copy... uh... it looks like you're flipping us off sir.

(V) _Am I? It must be faulty equipment. Anyway pilot, advance about half a __kilometer__ to see what we're talking about. _

[ENGINES FLARING 40% VELOCITY]

(G-1) Oh my God. It's a village. No, it looks like a whole town!

(V) _Right, and we've been defending it for almost two weeks. I've got wounded and dead around here, some civilians, but mostly military. Captain Lee is among them. _

(S) _Where are you, Lieutenant?_

(V) _Continue for a kilometer and make your way to the CP station. It should be near the hospital. _

[SIERRA ACTUAL AND COMPANY CONTINUES TO BASE CAMP. PRINCESS SALLY LOOKS OVER DEFENSES]

(S) _Expecting the apocalypse_?

(V) _Close to it. We've got a town of civilian Gallvente that just wanted peaceful coexistence on this planet. Now we have Fat Boy's robots making life difficult for them. I'm not happy, Princess. I'm injured, I have bodies stacking up, and WHAT THE HELL IS THAT NOSIE_?

[RADIO] _MAYDAY! MAYDAY! THIS IS ECHO FIVE NINER! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK FROM ROBOTIC FORCES AT GRID 524! WE ARE DOWN TO SQUAD STRENGTH! __**I SAY AGAIN SQUAD STRENGTH**__! SEND BACKUP! PLEASE! _

(V) _Grid 524 is ten miles from here. If we can get a group of jeeps together, we can rescue them!_

(S) _On my way now! What was the original strength of the squad_?

(V) _That's Paco's squad! I sent them out five hours ago to secure a warehouse at the far end of the town! COME ON! MOVE YOUR ASS!_

[PRINCESS SALLY AND TEAM MOVES DOUBLE TIME THROUGH THE CAMP, SALLY SHOVES ASIDE A MARINE TO GET THROUGH]

(S) Sorry!

(G-1) Sierra Actual, be advised we have thermals coming through the foliage. Wait one...

[ZOOM IN. CONFIRM CONTACTS ARE ROBOTS w/ ROUGHLY HUMANOID STRUCTURE]

(G-1) Lieutenant, Golf 1. Suggest that we move in and pick Sergeant Paco's men up. We have the firepower.

(V) _Negative, Golf 1. You're a major target and are likely to be shot down. Hold position and follow us in. You are to conduct gunship duty on my mark. Until then, keep above 5,000 feet and out of sight._

(G-1) Affirmative. Golf 1 staying on station.

[PRINCESS SALLY REACHES COMMAND POST (CP)]

(S) _Good to see you, Human._

(V) _Hmm. You look clean. _

(S) _Yeah. I see you haven't had much chance to shower_.

(V) _I've got a town to worry about. Why the hell do you think I'm still standing when I could be lying down? The doctors tell me that I'll collapse from exhaustion soon if I don't give it a break_.

(S) _You're not going to listen in the slightest?_

(V) _I AM THE RANKING OFFICER! I NEED TO... Augh Jesus. McGregor, I need another stim.***_

(McGREGOR) _Here you are, sir. I cannae believe you're still doing this. Would you like Sergeant Belmont to take command?_

(V) _No. Tell Belmont that as soon as I get back though, the stage is his_.

[LT. VENNETTILLI INJECTS HIMSELF WITH COCKTAIL]

(V) _WHOAH! Better! OK, we're on a roll!_

(S) _Level with me, Human. When was the last time you slept_?

(V) _Two days ago_.

(S) _This is insane. You're going to get yourself killed. _

(V)_Yeah? What are you gonna do about it? In a warzone, you hold no power over me. I've learned my lesson with you since boot camp. Now are you coming?_

(S) _Yeah, I'm coming. Ramirez, mount the turret_.

(R) _Yes ma'am_.

(S) _Lieutenant, this is Corporal Ramirez_.

(V) _Pleasure._

(R) _Sir._

[JEEPS ROLL OUT]

(MARINE) _OK boys! Let's go save some aliens! OORAH!_

(ALL) _OORAH!_

[JEEP UNIFORM 3 OVERTAKES COMMAND JEEP UNIFORM LEAD]

(V) _Golf 1, are you maintaining safe altitude_?

(G-1) Roger Lieutenant. We are at... 4,820 feet and holding position. We have some turbulence coming in from the northwest.

(V) _I feel it too. Not to worry, barometers say it shouldn't be so bad. We do have a dust devil forming North of here, but we should be able to avoid it if we're lucky._

(S)_ Dust devils? _

(MARINE) _Yeah, Hyperia's full of them. Just like the mini tornadoes on the prairies. Cold air comes from the mountains and merges with the warm air here. They aren't much more than an annoyance. _

(S) _Any full-scale storms_?

(MARINE) _Only near the equator. Hyperia has a strange current distribution. It gets worse the closer you are to the middle_.

(V) _Sally, now's not the time for a tour._

(S) _Oh, my fault, _Chris_. I thought it helps to know your battlefield_.

(V) _Speaking of which, have you read the Sun Tzu book I told you about_?

(S) _I've been reading Sun Tzu before you suggested it to me. _

(G-1) Attack Force Uniform, you are approaching the boarder to Helgo Questok

[VEHICLES ENTER HELGO QUESTOK – GALLVENTE SETTLEMENT ON HYPERIA, POPULATION: 7,341. MINIMAL THERMALS DETECTED. SWITCHING TO SECONDARY]

[WORKING...]

[LIFESIGNS DETECTED; CATALOGUING; TAGGING]

(MARINE) _This is Uniform 2! Lifesigns detected! _

[CIVILIAN; GALLVENTE MALE EMERGES FROM HOME]

[LIEUTENANT VENNETTILLI DEPARTS JEEP]

(CITIZEN) _Human! Where are the machines_?

(V) _I thought we asked everyone to leave, Horrah. _

(CITIZEN) _I know, but my wife and child just couldn't leave! _

(V) _Horrah, this place could become a free-fire zone soon. Look, I know this is your home, but you have to head for the camp. _

(CITIZEN) _But, but..._

(S) _Horrah, right? I am Princess Sally Acorn of the Mobians_.

(V) _Princess..._

(CITIZEN) OH! _I know who you are! You are the ones from the Other Earth! _

(S) _Yes we are. But we need you to get your family out of here. We're going to save this village. Soon everyone will be back here safe and sound._

(CITIZEN) _Do you promise this_?

(S) _As a Princess. _

(CITIZEN) _Ah... Lieutenant. I don't want to leave, but I know that there is serious risk that we may be in danger. Please save my home. It's all we have. _

(V) _Horrah, focus on saving yourselves right now. We'll do the rest. _

(CITIZEN) _Yes. That's for the best. I'll get my wife and child. Thank you Human. Go do some damage for me_.

(MARINE) _Wish granted!_

[CITIZEN RETREATS BACK INTO THE HOUSE AND EMERGES WITH FEMALE AND CHILD. THE TRIO RETREATS BACK TOWARDS THE CAMP. TAGGING FOR SAFETY]

(S) _That was some good English._

(V) _Yeah. _

(S) _What's that face?_

(V) _Don't go above me in a military matter_.

(S) _OK, Jeez. Sorry! I only made your job easier._

(V) _Look, I'd be grateful, but I haven't had any sleep. If I'm crabby, it's because of that. _

(S) _If I had my way, you'd be back in a bunk right now, and Belmont would be commanding_.

(V) _Well, it's good to know I'm in charge then._

(G-1) Uniform Patrol, be advised: you are coming up on Sergeant Paco's position. We estimate that approximately twenty two hostiles and one vehicle is at the combat zone.

(V) _Golf 1, commence gunship operations now_.

(G-1) Solid copy. We're spinning up the main cannons.

(V) _Sergeant Paco, what`s your situation?_

(PACO) _Identify yourself_.

(V) _Your commanding officer_.

(P) _Oh thank God! We've been trying to get a signal out for an hour! Our signals have been blocked._

(V) _Golf 1, I want it on record that the ONI scientists should have developed a countermeasure a long time ago for this. _

(G-1) On record, sir.

(S) _Ramirez, once we round this corner, come out swinging_.

[RAMIREZ COCKS MACHINE GUN]

(R) _You got it, Highness ! _

(MARINE) _Contact sighted! _

(V) _Everyone! Open fire! _

[VEHICLES ENGAGE. UNIFORM 3 DESTROYS ENEMY UNITS POISED TO DESTROY A SQUAD OF MARINES]

(SOBEL) _Golf 1, you have clearance to open fire on any targets of opportunity. _

(G-1) Firing!

[MAIN CANNON FIRING IN 3 ROUND BURST]

(G-1) Time on target in 3... 2... 1... Impact

(MARINE) _Hot damn! _

(S) _Sent 'em flying, Golf! _

(V) _I'm heading out! Sally, take the wheel! _

[LT VENNETTILLI LEAVES JEEP, STUMBLES, BUT CATCHES HIMSELF]

(S) _You're going to get yourself killed! Human! _

(V) _Sergeant! What's your status?_

(P) _Breathing! I took one in the chest! My vest protected it for the most part. _

[TARGET APPROACHES SGT. PACO. GOLF 1 SUSTAINING FIRE SUPPORT]

[LT VENNETTILLI STUMBLES AGAIN, FIRES FIFTEEN ROUNDS AT APPROACHING ROBOTS]

(V) _Bravo Actual to Sierra Actual, any ideas where these things came from_?

(S) _Your guess is as good as mine. Personally, WHOA! I would prefer to talk about this when we're NOT in a combat situation! _

[PRINCESS SALLY FISTAILS AND RUNS OVER TWO ROBOT COMMANDERS. CORPORAL RAMIREZ CONTINUES TO FIRE AT ROBOTS WITH GOOD ACCURACY. SHE DROPS FIVE GRUNTS, BUT THEY GET SOME SHOTS OFF AT HER VEHICLE]

(S) _MOBIUS! Are these things supposed to be armoured?_

(V) _They have the fifties! _

(G-1) Bravo Actual, Golf 1. We're coming through for another pass.

[TARGETS ACQUIRED. PAINTING ROBOT POSITION. GUIDANCE PACKAGES FOR ASG-22 SPIDERWICK MISSILES PRIMED. MISSILES AWAY]

(G-1) Fox One! Fox One!

[DIRECT HIT. TARGETS NEUTRILIZED]

(MARINE) _Thank you flyboys! _

[LT VENNETTILLI STUMBLES AGAIN]

(V) _I'm so tired. I can't feel my legs. _

(S) _Stay up, Marine! That's an order! _

(V) _I need a stim! _

(P) _Medic! _

(MARINE) _Medic's dead! We're on our own!_

(V) _Someone find him and grab his medkit! _

(MARINE) _I'm on it, sir! _

[MASTER COPROAL JEPH BITTERMEN MAKES HIS WAY TO THE BODY OF MEDIC COY VANROOYEN]

(MARINE) _I got the bag! I'm coming back! OH GOD! BERSERKERS!_

[READJUSTING CAMERA ANGLE, FIXING FOV BY 50 DEGREES. SHARPENING IMAGE]

[CONFIRM ACQUISITION OF TARGETS HEAVY; DESIGNATION 'BERSERKER']

[H: 5m

SPD: 40 KPH

ARM: 30mm TWIN CANNONS x 2, 120mm ROCKET TUBE x 2

THREAT LEVEL (110): 9

ESTIMATED NUMBERS: 12]

(G-1) Golf 1 moving to engage targets!

(SOBEL) _That's a negative, Golf 1. You are putting your Pelican at risk. The _Exeter_ and the _California _are entering the atmosphere to provide close fire support_. _We're approaching to the South_.

(G-1) Roger. I read you, Commander. Golf 1 pulling to 7,000 feet for additional surveillance.

[EMISSION WARNING. UNSC _EXETER_ & _CALIFORNIA_ ENTERING AREA OF OPERATIONS.]

(SOBEL) _We're inbound. Hold on to your ears ladies and gentlemen. _

[UNSC _EXETER_ & _CALIFORNIA _HAVE DISCHARGED THEIR POINT DEFENSE CANNONS. BERSERKERS HAVE BEEN NEUTRILIZED]

(S) _You know, I don't think those guns are loud enough!_

(V) _THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!_ _Oh..._

(P) _God damn it! He passed out. Someone get him on a jeep. Are we secure?_

(MARINE) _Affirmative. _

(P) _Exeter, do you have any more hostiles on your scanners? _

(EXETER) _Negative Tango Actual. You're clear. _

(P) _Well done everyone! Search the area. Get any weapons for the eggheads. _

[PRINCESS SALLY MOVES TO MEDICAL JEEP]

(S) _Is he safe? _

(MEDIC) _He's just sleeping. Poor guy finally went down from the strain. _

(S) _He was asking for it. I'll find the wounded. _

(MEDIC) _No problem. Thanks, Princess._

(G-1) Sierra Actual, Golf 1. I think you guys are good. Pulling back to base.

(EXETER) _Copy Golf 1. Go get some rest gentlemen. Have a nice day. _

[GOLF 1 PULLING BACK. CAMERA SHUT DOWN IN EFFECT]

[MISSION ACCOMPLISHED T+01:54:18]

[ENDING RECORD]

::END ENTRY::

* * *

><p><strong>*Sierra Actual refers to Sally's position as the team leader. In an irony, Sierra Actual is also S.A., which by total coincidence (and I am realizing this as I write this) are Sally's initials.<br>**This line refers back to a scene in _Soldier's Log_, where Sally accidentily insults Chris for being a Marine. He never lets her forget this.  
>***The Marine McGregor is actually Lance McGregor, a minor character who appeared in <em>Shadow in the Dark<em>, _The Terran Incident_, _Infested_, and recieved a small mention in _Warpath_.  
><strong>

**There are also many opportunities for some 'Ramirez, do everything!' jokes here too! **


	34. Entry 34: October 28th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: October 28th, 3234<br>Entry Made 1456 hours (2:56 PM)

Dear Journal,

I'm finally in a position where I will have to make a serious decision. As of 9 AM this morning, I have been assigned as Senior Tactical Officer of this firebase. It's my first command position. I think I'm ready for it though. We have pushed the first wave of foes back, but something is telling me that there's another wave is somewhere on this planet.

Sergeant Major Belmont is now the commanding officer. He's a Marine with a lot of tenacity. He's always willing to fight. Some among my people would refer to him as a war-hawk. I'm not sure if I would make that distinction though. Belmont seems like a nice guy outside of combat. Early this morning, he and I shared some coffee and discussed the plans for defence of Helgo Questok.

"The town is essentially defenceless." He said to me. "The inhabitants had no idea something on this magnitude would happen."

"There weren't any AA grids or orbital platforms constructed?"

"All AA grids are around the larger settlements; Hyperia has no orbital defence net; besides, Gallvente don't believe in Anti-Air guns anyway."

"Why not? It would give them a better chance."

"This isn't a city first and foremost, Acorn. This is a bush town. The Gallvente set up this settlement in the first place just for some peace and quiet. It reminds them of Thakorim."

I noted the Gallvente homeworld. "Yeah, well Thakorim was the target of the Covenant during the war."

"I was a college recruit! You think I know anything about history? I just want to get paid and shoot some bad guys."

Short definition of a serviceman right there. I hope Vennettilli never reads that part...

Belmont spent the morning getting men into position throughout Helgo Questock. Against the Lieutenant's orders, some civilians still didn't leave the town! I had to admire their attachment to their homes, but they needed to get out. One of the Gallvente citizens, a man named Juul Lok Qeil gave me a bit of trouble.

"Mister Lok, we're asking everyone to leave the vicinity of the town."

"I will not go!" he roared at me.

"Mister Lok, I don't want to make this difficult for you." I said with added energy. "Get your family and leave. This place is about to become a free-fire zone!"

"This is my home! LEAVE ME, ALIEN!"

He whipped his two pairs of arms at me. He screeched. Two of the four connected and knocked my sunglasses off. Ramirez and a marine named Bolton secured Juul.

Belmont was at my side helping me up. "The hell's going on here?"

"He's giving us some trouble." I said, rubbing my jaw. Thankfully, no blood was coming from my mouth.

"Juul? I thought I told you to leave two days ago!"

"You cannot separate me from my dwelling, alien!"

Belmont sneered. "You've been a pain in my ass for too long. You know what? Fine, he stays!"

"What?" I said in shock.

"You heard me, Acorn. Mister Lok wants his dwelling so bad, he can stay in it while the robots invade."

"He's a civilian! He has a family!"

"Yeah? And he's also beating up my men!" He was indicating me. "We're moving out. Smell ya later, Lok! Hope you say hi to the Gods for me!" We started walking away. I just couldn't believe that Belmont was just leaving them.

"What was THAT about? He'll be killed!"

"No he won't."

"You just left him there!"

"He'll leave." He seemed so sure. "Gallvente have very strong family ties. They won't let family members die. He'll leave. They just need a bit of tough love."

"And you said you knew nothing about aliens!"

He slipped on his sunglasses. "I never said that. I just said that I sucked at history."

Christopher was still unconscious following his collapse. According to the doctor, he hadn't slept in three days. I've pulled all-nighters before, but for God's sake, I know when to stop! After the first day my eyes were burning! What would I be feeling after three? He was just laying there with eyes fluttering about in REM sleep. The medic said that he had no clear idea of when he would be out of it, but I know better than to wake a sleeping man, and if you wake a sleeping Marine, be sure to find a knife to your throat.

So I just left him there. I had to go over a few maps with Belmont anyway. According to the scans, there was a natural drainage basin roughly twenty kilometres from Helgo Questock. Belmont and I assumed that this was where the robots were coming from. I thought that was an interesting assumption. Eggman liked to make himself known to his enemies. On Mobius, he always put his face on everything, and made his buildings as noticeable as possible. It wasn't like him to sink into nature and strike from a hidden base.

He was changing his tactics. Interesting.

"According to the troop movements, we extrapolated their position." Belmont said. "We think they came from the basin, but we need harder evidence."

"Do we have air support on this one?" I asked.

"The _Exeter _and the _California_ needed to pull back to orbit on account of them spending a lot of fuel on that last manoeuvre. They aren't like frigates that can stay in the air forever."

"But can we still reach them?" I asked, elbows on the table.

"Sure, why not?"

I tapped my COM. "_Exeter, _this is Acorn. Are you reading my signal?"

"_Loud and clear. This is _Exeter._ What can we do for you, Princess_?"

"I need a sweep at a location. Approximately twenty kilometres from our position bearing North-Northeast."

"_This is _Exeter._ We copy that request. Stand by._"

"_Acorn, this is Sobel. Why are you interested in this basin, Highness_?"

"I just don't like the way it's just sitting there. We have speculation that this is the robot staging ground. Can you help us put our minds at ease?"

"_Yeah. We had to pull back to orbit to save on fuel from hovering. We can move into position in ten minutes. We'll be coasting on inertia until then._"

"I acknowledge. Acorn out."

"Ten minutes is a while to a man in my profession. What do we do until then?"

"We formulate a plan." I said. "I know these robots. I've been fighting them since I was a child."

"How old?"

"Let's see, the War ended in '25, and Robotnik started his attack immediately... I wasn't much older than thirteen when I started fighting officially two years later.

"Thirteen. Jesus Christ. I don't think even the militias on the Outer Colonies make the citizens fight that young."

"We had a cause. We were being attacked. We needed to free my people. We were doing pretty good... until the _Indomitable_ showed up. Then he pulled out all the stops."

"The _Indomitable_ is one of ours. I hope we didn't make anything worse."

"Thankfully, it could have been much worse."

"But we made lasting impressions?"

"Humanity did. In that one day, you changed who we were. We only knew traces of our origins; a thousand years is a long time. Now our entire history could be different."

"Well, would you have been better off otherwise?"

I had to think about that one. I don't know. I mean, Robotnik's coup, the downfall of my father's once great kingdom to a single city... where would that have gotten us? Would it be better or worse?"

"I don't know. All I do know is this, Belmont: things are going to be different."

Suddenly I received a COM buzz on my earpiece. It was one of the scanning operators on the _Exeter_. They told me that they looked over the entire basin and that there was absolutely nothing there. There was a lake, a lot of trees, and the site of an old glacier. It was a bit disappointing. I was so sure that this was the robotic staging ground. It was in a prime location. It was easy to defend, next to a mountain, which meant resources to build his attack force.

It didn't make any sense.

Belmont seemed a bit off put by it. He reminded me that the Covenant did have access to light bending technology. I knew that Eggman had his own technology of that sort, but would he ally himself with genocidal aliens?

(UKN) Exeter _to Acorn! _Exeter _to Acorn! Priority one response! Come in_!

(SALLY) I'm here. What's going on?

(UKN) _Energy signatures all over the Alondo Plains! They're throwing EMPs into orbit! It was a cloaking field! _

(SALLY) _Cloaking field?_

(UKN) _It's Robotnik! The basin? It wasn't empty at all! It was a Covenant energy field! _

(SALLY) No... the son of a bitch actually did it. He's allied with the Covenant.

(SOBEL) _We don't know that for sure, Princess. You will rally your troops and prepare for hostile encounters. The _Exeter_ and _California _will stay on station until additional reinforcements come in. We cannot risk collateral damage to Helgo Questok or any surrounding settlements. We might be able to provide close fire support. Are we clear?_

(SALLY) Crystal, commander!

(SOBEL) _Good luck, Furry. Sobel out_.

(SALLY) OK people! Let's go! Belmont! I want fifty caliber emplacements on the perimeter! Get some barricades to all road entrances to Helgo Questok! Do we have any energy shields?

(UKN) Three in the storage warehouse!

(SALLY) Put those around the infirmary. I want that safe from any mortar shells.

(UKN) With respect, ma'am, I don't think a few energy barriers will protect the wounded for very long.

(SALLY) Then do it until we have reinforcements. Why are you still standing there? MOVE IT!

(UKN) Yes ma'am, right away ma'am!

(SALLY) Acorn to Infirmary, how's the CO?

(DOC. HALL) _Stable, but he's still not in any case to fight. I have to keep him longer._

(SALLY) Can you stimulate him?

(DOC. HALL) _I could risk muscle damage if I send him out there in this state_.

(SALLY) We need some form of support.

(DOC. HALL) _I can't help you there. Listen, if I find a way to keep him on his feet without hurting himself, I can._

(SALLY) Thanks, Doc. Acorn out.

[FOOTSTEPS]

(BELMONT) Highness, it's for you.

(SALLY) This is Acorn. Who is this?

(UKN) _Your majesty! I thought your presence on this planet was pure speculation. I guess I have you right where I want you now!_

(SALLY) Are you insane? You've allied yourself with the COVENANT! Do you know what these freaks are capable of?

(UKN) _These 'freaks' as you deem them Princess, are great suppliers of weaponry and technology. Provided I stick to their religious beliefs, I won't abuse them! I think they'll prove most useful when I send them down on that pathetic excuse for a town! _

(SALLY) I will find you! I will FIND YOU and BEAT YOU INTO THE DIRT!

(UKN) _Temper, temper. And I thought that the Lieutenant was the one wearing the pants around here! Get ready. _

(SALLY) Did you trace the transmission?

(BELMONT) No. It was scrambled in the first place.

[SILENCE]

(SALLY) We can't worry about that now. Charlie Lance, get those jeeps into action. Fire Team Uniform, lock and load. You're in phalanx formation in the town center! We're running out of time everyone! Those citizens are depending on us! MOVE!

::END ENTRY:: 


	35. Entry 35: October 31st, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: October 31st, 3234<br>Entry Made 1830 (6:30 PM)

Dear Journal,

In an effort to try to displace myself with the battle the other day, I am trying to get into the holiday spirit! Happy Halloween everyone! I am pleased to see that holidays haven't changed between species or centuries except for the fact that Humans celebrate Halloween as a paid holiday. Lucky bastards.

Sobel decided to give us a bit of a break since we were on an 8 day jump back to Earth. Because we were topped off by a supply freighter before we jumped out of the system, cry storage was now voluntary rather than compulsory. Anyone who didn't want to wait 8 days for the trip to finish could turn themselves into popsicles on their own demand.

Not me. I'm not sleeping naked in those things again. I think I'll stick it out!

The ship did seem a bit emptier as I was wandering the hallways. Some crewmen put cardboard pumpkins outside of their rooms and had small lights inside, creating the effect of an ancient jack o' lantern. The legends say that once upon a time, there was an Irish farmer named Jack that once stole from his town. One day, Jack found the Devil outside of his town who told Jack it was time for him to die. Jack trapped the Devil in a tree and made him promise never to steal his soul. When Jack died, his soul was in limbo. He was too sinful to go to Heaven and he couldn't go to Hell. Because God was merciful, he gave Jack a turnip. The flare of his soul was put inside, and he forever wandered the Earth, known as Jack of the Lantern, which eventually became Jack 'o Lantern! Ta Daaah!

We have a slightly different version. On Mobius, we were told as children that the Jack 'o Lantern was a way to trap Chaos. Long ago after the landing of the Colonists in 2190 but before the advent of Darwin's Plague in 2650, Chaos reigned through the land. Chaos was blamed for the plague by my ancestors, and believed that it could be trapped. One day, Chaos escaped and caused terror among the land. The Echidna performed a ritual that trapped it in the Master Emerald. Sound similar to the tale of Jack? That's why on this day, we sometimes place mock emeralds on our front doors to honor this story either. The 'trick or treat' thing, that was downright identical.

Humans... not the type to change very much...

In addition, their peanut fudge bars are the most heavenly thing to grace my taste-buds. I tell you, we should have found an extrauniversal civilization sooner.

I'm heading back to Mobius right now through Earth. I've had a loooong journey and I think that it's time I deliver my report to the Freedom Fighters directly. 8 days though... What can I do on a corvette only three hundred yards long? There must be a couple rifle ranges, but how long can that amuse me? I know that some officers have access to a bar, but I don't want to drink too much either, and technically speaking, I'm enlisted. I'd pull rank, but what sort of role model would I be?

Yes, I consider myself a role model. As a princess, I have to set an example in a political and social aspect. I already basically threw my strictness out the window, but I want to show that I am compliant in society. I think that kids even look up to me. I know on Mobius, but wouldn't it be something if Human children saw me like that too?

But I'd better get off that subject. I've had a big ego before, and I certainly don't want to get one in Sonic's size. I'd be a royal pain in the ass!

Speaking of Sonic, I don't know whether my message made it back to the Jumpgate or not. I do know that it will take at least an hour or so to write a new one. Sonic's a helpless romantic. He'll try to put whatever sounds best together. He's immature at times, but he can write a love letter.

Now, assuming that he sends the message tomorrow, it will still take time to intercept us, even if it is travelling in Slipspace conduits. You know the old physics problem, if a train from New York is travelling at 100 MPH and a train from Chicago is travelling at 90 MPH, what will the speed be when they collide? Kind of the same thing with a transmission in space. The message will hit us with such momentum that the sensors will have to take time to unscramble it. This is the reason why messages are generally sent in realspace (the space in which we occupy), because it's easier for ship sensors to pick them up and relay them.

I'm kind of excited for what he'll write. Hurry back, Sonic!

Still... 8 days! Eight long... boring days. I think I will get some exercise. The great thing is that even though this is a small ship, the quality of the equipment is outstanding. The gym itself is nothing that should be laughed at. The weights are of composite iron, the multi-routine machine has high tech holographic displays, not to mention a built-in Dumb AI trainer that has six distinct personalities! Last, but certainly not least is the zero-gravity tennis court. I'd love to find an opponent, but most of the crew are TV dinners, so I think that's out of the question, unless I'd like to wake Ramirez up personally. I don't think she'd appreciate that. They say that that the last dream you have before cryo sleep stays with you all throughout your nap. You also know that feeling when you try to remember the dream you've had right when you woke up? Imagine holding that for 8 days...

Whoo, actually, I think the best thing I can do at this moment would be to take a shower. Since there's really barely anybody around, I don't think little shower won't be embarrassing. I smell like Hyperia.

Hmm, a message just came in. High priority. It'll still be here when I get back. Now where did I put my towel...?

[REPORT STORED FOR FUTURE VIEWING: REVIEW SUBJECT: INCIDENT REPORT, ARMED ASSAULT CONFLICT CONCERNING 1LT C.J. VENNETTILLI]

::End Entry::


	36. Entry 36: November 2nd, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: November 2nd, 3234<br>Entry Made 1434 (2:34 PM)

Dear Journal,

...I've just looked at the incident report. I was very disappointed. I'm not angry, just disappointed.

Lieutenant Vennettilli didn't strike me as the kind of man that would attack another serviceman, but according to the report, that's exactly what happened.

Two days ago, I received a report that while on the transport back to Earth, Vennettilli was confronted by a Mobian naval officer who was on loan to the _Yellowstone_, the craft that carried the relieved Marines from Hyperia.

The naval officer was named Harold the Meerkat, ranked Petty Officer 2nd Class in the Royal Navy and was originally stationed aboard the _Alexander II*_. According to the log, Harold made accusations that Vennettilli had racist thoughts against the Mobians, and predictably, the Lieutenant countered that argument.

In the months that I knew him, I've never known Christopher to be a racist, so I'm effectively calling bullshit on that accusation. That in mind, it seems likely that Harold was just having a bad day and needed to project his anger on the closest possible source, which just happened to be Vennettilli.

Although the Human was a bit annoyed by this, he didn't attack Harold then, oh no. After seeing that his plan to enrage the Human officer failed, Harold started to pick out physical features he thought was humorous. First it started with his nose, and then his hair, and then his thumb.

Still, it was no good, and the Lieutenant just sat there solemnly.

At this point, I was wondering to myself why Chris couldn't have just pulled rank and ordered Harold to bugger off, but things turned out this way.

So in a fit of rage, he called Chris a coward. That got him to stand up and face down Harold. Vennettilli was a full head taller than the Petty Officer, and his deep green eyes must have caused some discomfort in the annoying one. Some witnesses claim they heard something along the lines of, "_I have seen more combat and more death than you ever have in your life. I've walked to death's door and back and witnessed the cruelty of the Human race first hand. You'd better fuck off and not mess with me again._"

Harold then made a quip about his mother. His _dead _mother. The Lieutenant made sure Harold knew that when he grabbed the meerkat's collar.

His response? "_She was better off_."

That's when Chris slammed Harold's head onto the table and threw him to the ground. According to the security feed, enlisted troopers gathered around the duo and started shouting 'FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT' over and over again, as well as fanning the fight on, such as this little gem:

(Speaker identified as Chief Petty Officer Liam O'Brien**): "_Kick his head off, LT! Make 'im wish he never got on two legs!_"

Despite Harold's bigotry and flapping maw, he had a glass jaw. I recognize some of the moves the Lieutenant used because they were the same he used on _me_ back on the Flying Factory. The fight raged on for fifteen solid minutes while a solid wall of people blocked any of the officers from getting to the center of the fight. They ran around the outside of the mass of men trying to find a passage in, all the while shouting threats of demotions, brig time, as well as court martials.

Of course nobody listened. They were too pre-occupied watching the fight. It was one-sided to the point where it was ridiculous. Harold threw punches, but the Human kept on blocking and countering them. I saw hand to hand combat moves that I hadn't even considered once. Then I had to remember, I was learned martial arts; the art of self defence. Christopher learned to fight like a Marine; fighting to kill.

With a leg sweep, he put the meerkat on his back and put a boot on his chest. The others cheered, and some even passed money to each other. For a moment, Christopher stood triumphant, arms outstretched to receive applause as a humiliated Mobian lay under his boot. Then, in a move that surprised everyone, he stepped off the naval officer and extended a hand to him. A few faux-sweet 'aaaaw's were given by the crowd, but it was clear that they didn't see the end of the fight.

Thank. God.

The officers were able to scream at the lollygaggers and make them go back to stuffing their faces, whereas the XO on the ship, Full Lieutenant Matt Bernard Burns*** came storming into the mess hall. Here's the recorded conversation.

(BURNS) What the _HELL _just went on here?

(CHRIS) We... had a little scuffle.

(BURNS) That's not what the security chief told me! You almost beat the hell out of this guy!

(CHRIS) He had a long day, and he didn't mean anything he did. I'm not going to press any charges against him.

(HAROLD) What?

(BURNS) Charges on him? No. Charges on you? Absolutely. You engaged in an armed attack against Petty Officer Harold here. You injured him! Look at the way he's standing! You probably fractured his knee!

(CHRIS) I understand sir. We were both out of line.

(BURNS) Damn right you were both out of line! I will be filing a formal incident report with your CO on Tuesday!

(CHRIS) Technically I have no CO.

(BURNS) _Excuse me?_

(CHRIS) I have no commanding officer. I'm part of a team that exists outside of the formal chain of command called Omega Squad.

(BURNS) Who runs this outfit? [I could tell he had no idea what Christopher was talking about]

(CHRIS) Princess Sally Acorn of Knothole.

(HAROLD) The _Princess is your CO_?

(BURNS) She's a military officer?

(CHRIS) Our command is a bit unique. In combat situations, I am the senior officer and have years more combat experience than her. In a tactical or diplomatic situation, she has the final say.

(BURNS) Well, I do know her father is a king, and she _will_ be receiving my report in _great deal_. You shouldn't have thrown that punch. You're in trouble.

(CHRIS) Please... I technically stole a jet and flew it into a combat situation and got off scot-free. You think a fight is going to stay on my file?

[Burns' eyes nearly popped out of his head! Oh God, I wish I could rewind that bit over and over!]

(BURNS) You... you stole... my report will be out this Tuesday! I don't care if your CO is Jesus Christ himself! You are confined to quarters for the duration of this trip! No cold storage for you!

(CHRIS) Yes sir, Lieutenant. I understand.

[Burns left after this and Chris turned to Harold, who had a black eye and a bit of blood coming from his nose]

(CHRIS) You alright?

(HAROLD) I'll be fine. Why did you help me up?

(CHRIS) You seem like a nice guy.

(HAROLD) But... you're a Human!

(CHRIS) I _hope_ you're not putting us on the same page as Overlanders.

(HAROLD) You know about the Overlanders?

(CHRIS) Oh yeah. An old man nearly kicked my ass until I showed him I wasn't.****

(HAROLD) Hah! No kidding?

(HAROLD) Listen, I'm sorry for what I said. About your mother I mean.

(CHRIS) Forget it. Just shut up and don't mention it to me again.

(HAROLD) Believe me, I won't.

(CHRIS) Let me buy you a drink. It's the least I can do.

(HAROLD) Thanks man.

You know what the funny thing is? I won't put any crimes on Vennettilli. Regardless of who threw the first punch, I need him. He is one of the best soldiers I've seen and he has an acceptance of other races which was WAY more than we ever got from the Overlanders. He seemed to have a bit of an ego when he bragged about his crimes when he took that Longsword up, on my permission, I might add.

He's been out there for too long. Knuckles is getting lonely back in the pyramid. While I will not press charges, he will be getting the express ticket back to Earth. He is to accept no missions unless I directly authorize it, and he will not leave that pyramid unless I _directly authorize _it!

I've been giving the Human a lot of special treatment. Granted, he is a valuable asset to Omega, but he is not a Freedom Fighter, and I have to make him realize that I am still the boss around here.

I've also glanced at the day. I meet with the Other Sally in 18 days. I'm nervous, as she wants to see the Human to ask him something. Why couldn't they ask Andsworth, or Denheart when he was there in the first place? Why does she want to see this Human in particular?

And why the Humans at all? I thought Humans were extinct on their Mobius!

I... I need to lie down for a little while. There's just been so much going on that I'm getting a headache.

::END ENTRY::

* * *

><p>* The Alexander II was a UNSC Frigate that was given to the Mobians as a gift.<br>**This is a shout out to Chief O'Brien, a character from Star Trek TNG as well as DS9  
>***This is a shout out to Bernie Burns, the co-creator of Red vs. Blue<br>****The old man mentioned here refers back to Chris' trip in Reoh where an old man attacked him with a cane.


	37. Entry 37: November 7th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: November 7th, 3234<br>Entry Made 1900 (7:00 PM)

Dear Journal,

For the first time in a while, I am back on Mobius. Given what I've been through over the past couple weeks, I can safely say that nothing makes me happier than seeing my parents again. From the moment that I touched down on the planet, the first place I went was to the castle to see my friends. They were there waiting for me in a sort of 'welcome home' party. I was told that Bunnie helped set it up. She's a great friend!

Of course I had to tell everyone about my journey to Brunaji and the quest for the Lavender Giant. I sat there and told them the story as if I was a camp counsellor telling a bunch of scouts a ghost story. Whenever I mentioned the darkness of the forests or the creatures that lurked within, some of them recoiled in shock or started biting their nails.

Naturally the only one that wasn't scared was Sonic, who was leaning nonchalantly in his chair with a smug look on his face. When I mentioned the alien that attacked me and Harry, he just chuckled.

"I would like to know why that was so funny Sonic. That thing could have really hurt us."

He replied with this, "No monster's a challenge for me. I could have taken him on no problem."

"A monster, in the middle of the woods, in pitch darkness on a planet where you don't even get light on the far side?"

"If I could take on Robotnik's flunkies over and over again, an alien's no problem!"

"Yeah, yeah. Way past cool and all that." I said with an amused huff. Sonic's tune would have changed if he was in my shoes, ducking against a tree, not certain if I would walk out of there alive. You know what? I don't think it would now that I think about it. Sonic's always had that air of self-confidence that sometimes overrules his common sense. He would most likely just run at it without thinking and formulate a plan later. It makes him cute.

Of course I have to save him afterwards.

Then I told them about the battle on Hyperia, everyone stopped talking. That was what they really needed to hear. Eggman's forces had spread to the Outer Colonies. Hyperia was hundreds of lightyears away from Earth on the edge of Human Space close to the Lyshad border.

I'll deviate for a moment. Ever since I was aware of the Interstellar empire in the Earthverse, borders astounded me. Political borders in a place where there essentially is no end? Space is endless! There should be no need for checkpoints, neutral zones, borders, whatever. However, things don't work that way.

Now, space is not two-dimensional. You can expand borders in any direction. Imagine that we use the galaxy on a flat scale. We'll treat the galactic equator as the middle. Human Space looks something like a fat spear that expands through the galactic equator. It's not very large; possibly only four thousand lightyears long at its widest point, and four thousand 'high'.

But, I digress. The news that there were Eggbots among the stars caused some stir between the Freedom Fighters, and I knew exactly what they were thinking: this was far larger than anything we encountered, and I still feel guilty thinking about it now, but I said it out loud:

"Do you think we're unnecessary now?"

To my surprise, it was Tails who spoke. "Mobius will always need her Freedom Fighters." He looked at everyone. "We're a special line of defence that can never be replaced by anyone, not even the UNSC."

I looked at the kid and I smiled. It made me proud to be a Freedom Fighter. I knew he was right, and I knew that our fight was in someone else's hands for now. I'd still go back out there should they need us, but there were problems on Mobius that still needed our attention, like the incident in Mercia, and the problems with the High Sheriff.

With a gulp, I saw that Antoine was still not with us. I received a message the other day that told us he was in one of the most dangerous parts of Known Space with a race called the Shi'Kri'Lash*. Frightening people; tribal by nature and just as brutal. The first landing parties were killed when they set foot on the sands and brought the wrath of the entire Human military.

Huh. There's a sick allusion to the Xorda threat. Just the other way around. Only the Humans don't exterminate. It's unethical to them, inhumane is the term. It's one of the things I outright agree with when it comes to their policies. The apple doesn't fall far.

I decided to take a vacation. As of right now, I am recording this message from the side of a pool on a tropical island in the middle of the Pacifica Ocean called Kawa Crossing. I've only heard about this place a few months ago when a traveller came to Knothole. It's a beautiful place that has evidence of both Asian and Western culture, much like ours. It's a world away from a world. The island is a fair size with two cities separated by the Great River with sky bridges. I don't think that this place should be a tourist location. It deserves to be its own land, not ruled by any government except its own. It's sovereign, and it's strong.

The people don't seem to care very much for space travel. They're focused on their lives. It makes sense that traditionally these people were isolated and uncomfortable with what lies beyond their borders. I've been lucky to avoid public notice simply because I'm not as well known all the way out here in the middle of nowhere. Come to think of it, most of the Freedom Fighters were unknown. I guess fame only goes so far. They haven't seen any Humans at all, and only have seen flashes of ships that they automatically assumed belonged to us, even though they were clearly of UNSC design.

Robotnik has threatened them in the past, but they've held their own. They have their own defence force. Not a military, but it's something very similar to the Freedom Fighters, and based on what people are telling me, they're pretty good! If I can find some of them, I'd love to arrange some training classes.

Aw, I just got a message on my COM. It says that in four days time, I have to go to Earth to meet with a group of officials regarding the deployment of additional Orbital Defence Platforms around Mobius. We're also hopefully getting supplies to build waystations in our outer solar system. Maybe we can get that mission to Europa off the drawing board! Well, I have four days. Time to lay back, soak up the sun, and just enjoy myself, which is something I haven't been able to do in a long time**.

::END ENTRY::

* This race was mentioned in The Galactic Codex in the Shi'Kri Lash chapte. Antoine wrote the entire book.

**All for Rick

* * *

><p><strong>The ending part of this chapter was dedicated to a friend of mine, Rick Cressen who goes by the name of practicaluses on DeviantART. Rick has a concept of a comic called Kawa Crossing which takes place on an island in the middle of the Pacific. Rick wants his idea to fit snugly into comic canon. I ask that you go to DeviantART and tell him you have support, because he's getting a team together, and he's even had commissions done by Tracy Yardley himself.<strong>


	38. Entry 38: November 8th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: November 8th, 3234<br>Entry Made 1515 (3:15 PM)

Dear Journal,

I've been trying to write a few haikus out here in the jungle outside of the main city. Sometimes I have to experience beauty on a different scale. You want to know something? I've never been to an island like this. Never. Kawa Crossing has a diverse ecosystem and biosphere that I just LOVE exploring.

Shame that I will have to leave in three more days.

Let's see, there's a very comfortable looking rock here. Maybe I can get a few haikus going... hmm... I need some inspiration.

_A dense jungle  
>A bird chirps<br>Nature is at peace_

Got another one!

_The trickling stream  
>Winding through the earth<br>A comforting place_

I'm telling you; maybe I should have become a poet instead of a Freedom Fighter!* I would have made millions! (Hearty laughter). Now that colder weather is coming, I find myself drawn to warmer locales. Knothole does alright, given how we're in the southern parts of Northamer. I know that on Earth, certain places like Florida are seen as tourist locations. Mobius isn't nearly at that level of development. A Human may see our buildings and think that perhaps we are a rising civilization, and they're not far off; but we are a recovering one.

It was during Darwin's Plague in the 27th Century where we entered what was known as a dark age, because most of technology was failing, and most of the experts were the Humans at the time. Someone decided to give us the finger just at the end and decided to EMP most of the technology in the area surrounding Mobotropolis. That was it. Almost all of our technology was gone, and there wasn't a thing we could do about it. They found the guy who did it, and believe me, he was sorry he did it in the end, but what we couldn't ignore was that we were back to square one. We would need to rebuild most of our technology up again.

We still had things like cars and simple computers, but space flight was disabled, and once the Humans started dropping like flies in the mid 2700s, chances of us becoming even more advanced were getting smaller and smaller and smaller. Some people had fears that we would become tribal again. Some had fears that we would just degrade to animals once more and destroy all that we worked so hard for. All that Alexander Acorn worked towards.**

I know that would not have been Matthew Mobius' wish. He had a plan when he and the Lost Million were stranded here, and that plan went up in a nuclear fireball, driving everyone underground and bringing the Overlanders to power.

What a waste. It was all a waste, and he died broken hearted because of it.

Got one more,

_The blue sky  
>Inviting and safe<br>Endless Possibility_

[NEW MESSAGE ARRIVING! OPEN Y/N?]

Open the file.

[BEGIN VOICE PLAYBACK]

[FROM 1LT VENNETTILLI]

/begin message/

_I just want to thank you oh so very much for putting me back in this hole. I'm a Marine, Goddammit, not a freaking security guard! If this was for that stunt I pulled with the meerkat a few days ago, that was resolved peacefully and we had a couple of Buds at the end of it! Why? How have I insulted you so to place me back in _Master Knuckles Theater of Monotony_? First day back and I've been standing around this thing and of course I can't touch the shiny jewel! No, I can't look at the shiny jewel for too long! No, I can't ask about the rumbling and... whispering... coming from the... rock._

_It's... it's coming from the Master Emerald! Knuckles! Hey, come here! Something's wrong! This thing is talking to me, man! I'm getting freaked out! Emeralds don't talk! I learned that on the Discovery Channel for God's sake!*** _

(K) _I'm here. What's wrong? _

_Something's in here! It's whispering to me! I can hear it! _

(K) _Human, we need to talk. End that recording. This is between you and me now._

_You've got it. Princess, I dislike you for what you have done, but I know you had good reason. Maybe I was out there too long and needed to be put underground again. The next transport arrives in three days. I'll send you a progress report first and then to Andsworth for analysis. _

_Chris out_.

_/end message/_

[END PLAYBACK]

[PRESS ENTER CO CONTINUE]

Well that was a bit disturbing. I'm sure I have a few instances of Echidna legends put on my computer somewhere. I'll have to look it up to be sure. Something... something doesn't seem to be right here.

_The Earth  
>An emerald lying within<br>Beauty and mystery surrounding it_

::END ENTRY::

* * *

><p><strong>*I'm actually not much of a poet myself, but I decided to take a stab at a couple haikus here.<br>**In ths alternate universe (and especially after my rewrite of The Story of Mobius), Humans from the original colony ships that got lost here did exist for a time until virtually all of them died from something called Darwin's Plague that was supposedly caused by remnants of the Xorda plague.  
>***He's actually not this stupid. He's just using some humor. <strong>


	39. Entry 39: November 10th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: November 10th, 3234<br>Entry 1743 (5:43 PM)

Dear Journal,

Well that's just fantastic! Just freaking fantastic! Four days here so I could enjoy myself and not ONCE was I able to make due on that one! For four days it's been nothing but interruptions upon interruptions from people I know back home! I'm just standing here in my hotel room packing up all of my clothes that I never got to wear, my bathing suit that I never got wet, and drink recipes that I was never able to mix! I mean, for God's sake, shouldn't a girl be allotted _any_ time for herself? I risk my butt having to fight for BOTH the Kingdom and the UNSC and I can't get a few days in paradise?

Yes, I understand that I might by bitching a little bit, but when I receive constant reminders about my shuttle that's leaving in 27 hours every hour ON THE HOUR, it kind of kills the feeling! I'm to be picked up at the shipyards via a special Pelican dropship and brought straight back to Knothole so that I can catch a shuttle to the _Demetrius_, which I can then take to Earth for the conference! I talked to mom and dad about this and they say that I need to be involved in politics with the Humans! I know that it's a big deal that we have trade agreements now, but I'm not sure I can settle this sort of thing! I'll have to read up on the documents on the ride home courtesy of mother and father dearest, and then I will need to meet with the Secretary of Commerce himself, Del Patterson to go over paper after paper after paper of shipping requisitions and I'll have to share our wishes too!

_This_ is what interstellar commerce is about? I thought it would end up something like _Star Trek_!*

On top of it all, I received a message from a hopeful! If I'm reading this right, there's someone who's looking to join Omega! We aren't some fan club! There are channels and prerequisites you need to fill! The guy's name is... Borne. William Borne**. He's a Mobian who says that he wants to join Omega because, and I quote, '_I wish to be a part of a revolutionary experience merging the forces of Humanity and Mobians together in a joint effort to defend one another against all forms of danger and oppression_'.

I won't lie: Borne looks like a tough cookie. He's served my father for many years as an infantryman and has earned a couple of impressive commendations. However, I don't think I'm looking for a new member anytime soon. I can recommend him for another Special Forces unit though. The UNSC calls them Orbital Drop Shock Troopers; units that actually drop from orbiting spacecraft into enemy positions. They're considered the best of the best and hard-core badasses. According to his service record, Borne fits the bill perfectly. I'll see if he's OMEGA quality by putting him through the ringer and making a name for himself. In a couple years, I'll keep my promise and put him in line. The Freedom Fighters aren't soldiers, but those of us in Omega Squad are, and if I am to allow new members, I must maintain a high level of competence and experience in fighting for both military forces. If Borne wants this chance, he will prove himself as a Helljumper.

I have to leave soon. The Pelican's due to arrive in forty-five minutes. If I leave right now, I'll be able to reach the docks in half that time. I don't want to make an issue either. I hope the pilots are that patient sort. Humans are supposed to be pretty big on punctuality. Moving moving moving all the time. If I don't get moving, some angry pilots are going to be yelling at me. They better not have brought any Marines with them as an escort. I'll pick it up later.

[PAUSE ENTRY]

[RESUME ENTRY]

They did. They brought along a fire team of Marines to serve as my welcoming committee! I can't believe this! I didn't want to be noticed by anyone and then a bunch of dock workers come clambering over to me asking if I were someone famous! They didn't get far when one of the Marines came up and acted like a bouncer. Seriously, who the hell thought this was going to be necessary?

(ID-UKN) Well _excuse me_, Princess!

_CAN IT ALENKO! CAN'T YOU SEE THIS IS A PRIVATE JOURNAL?_

(ID-UKN) You mean your diary?

It's a JOURNAL! What are you guys laughing about? Oh you think that's funny huh? Girly stuff? You know what's not girly? Arm wrestling. Come on you pansies! Who's first?***

::END ENTRY::

* * *

><p><strong>*What I try to do sometimes is to make my universe large enough where we can focus on things like politics or commerce. It makes the universe all the more believable.<br>**This was specifically mentioned for a friend of mine in a gesture to say that I haven't forgotten my promise. You will see more of Borne yet.  
>***As of right now, I'm considering writing a separate entry for showing how badly she beats these guys (oh come on, you all knew she was going to win, right?)<strong>


	40. Entry 40: November 12th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: November 12th, 3234<br>Entry Made 2017 (8:17 PM)

Dear Journal,

I hate politics. I hate it more after today than I've ever had in my entire life. From the minute I knew I had to put on a dress and heels again, I knew this was going to be havoc for my sanity. I suppose I should say where it all began. It was actually yesterday when I got to Earth at three in the morning. I was told that our gyosynch orbit was scheduled forward by three hours, meaning that I had to be up with only four hours of sleep. Now, I don't believe many people have seen me when I haven't had enough sleep, but let me tell you, I am bitchy.

If I may digress for a moment, I have no idea how those Marines are able to function with five hours or less under their belts and suffer no adverse effects! It baffles the mind the way the Human body can work like that! I remember that during the few days I was at the boot camp, there was always a five-mile hike to a predisclosed location, a full workout session there, and then another five mile jog back as a cooldown. All of this ended before 9 in the morning! Then the training could begin.

It scares me, man. Especially with Chris in Omega. He's a machine sometimes. I wonder if he ever sleeps at all. I know that you do get hallucinations if you don't get some shut eye, and I can clearly see that Vennettilli is fighting some demons that may not be there.

Back on the topic of the day... Politics can kiss my royal ass.

The moment I set foot on Earth, I was whisked away by a personal transport. I was in Geneva, you know, the place where they had that convention or something. It must have been a hell of a convention with costumes or something though.

Actually, I joke. What sort of politician would I be without knowledge of the Geneva Conventions? The fair treatment of prisoners in war? To be honest, these were the rules we should have lived by when we were in the Great War. It was a time where this one fight brought out our animosity. We killed most combatants, but we left civilians alive. All combatants were killed. All of them. The Overlanders barely had any fighting force left when they fled Mobius. Good Riddance.

I have to keep reminding myself that these are Humans that we're dealing with. Not Overlanders.

I was brought into the actual city of Geneva which didn't seem as advanced as other parts of the planet. There were a few large skyscrapers, but for the most part, the rolling French landscape far overwhelmed the architecture. This was utterly peaceful. As we rolled through the town, I could smell fresh bread being baked in traditional ovens, people singing, and children were playing grav-ball in the park. Rapid conversations in French were going left in right. In some ways, it was like New York city, but of course, in Europe, everything seemed to have been geared down somewhat. This was a city that reminded me more of Knothole than anything else. I found myself looking at the distant Mont Blanc in the distance. This was a magnificent mountain that bordered France, Italy and Switzerland. It was so powerful, so dominant! These people got to live with this sight every day!

I'm getting off track. Anyway, I turned to the special agent riding with me. His name was Rowan Welkes. I had to ask him why this meeting was so important. What Welkes told be was that the meeting would regulate the actual trade agreements between Mobius and Earth, as well as the other civilizations by extension, so my presence here was actually a very important thing. That did not, in any way change my feelings about the whole arrangement. I still felt that this was a stupid conference.

We got to our hotel where I realized that this would be a four-day affair. This would be cutting it kind of close to my meeting with the Other Sally, which by my reckoning would be about four additional days from then. The purpose of the first night was for me to get to know the other delegates in the meeting. From the side of the Humans, I met Finance Minister Robert Umbakta, a tall dark man who wore a confident smile all the time. His hair was still a dark curly black, and with barely any wrinkles on his face despite him being about 62 years old (An average Human life span is about 200 years)! The Gallvente member was named... Lukem I think. I don't want to remember his other names. There are about six of them. There was a Sangheili named Umusho 'Refum, A bird-like Datonian named Grek Razorwing (the dominate clan, so I hear), a Lyshad named Y'mok, and lastly, and a few other races that I don't really remember...

I was the youngest delegate there. I was being put in a position where these men and women had more experience over me. What were my parents thinking? Maybe they thought I might have been able to handle it, but they were wrong! I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing here! I'm just been put into a situation where I feel I have to go with the flow! I did recieve some documents to read while I was on the flight here, but I don't think they were enough. You know what that means: Oh yeah, it's cramming time, baby.

I was treated to a dinner with the rest of the delegates. Because I felt most comfortable with him, I sat with Mr. Umbakta. He actually was a kind man who could understand my frustration. I asked if what I looked like mattered. I remember his exact words:

"Young lady, I have been in politics for almost half of my life so far, and I will tell you this: If what we looked like made a difference, the United Nations wouldn't exist. Slavery would still be in circulation, and every First Contact would be a bloody one. We would not be a civilization of openness, but more of one of racism and segregation."

That's when I reminded him of the opposition of the Mobian people. I had recieved some reports on how a few have been isolated and beat up by gangs of Humans who shouted racial slurs all the time. Some of the victims were... undignified following their attacks.

Then Mr. Umbakta gave a sad sigh.

"It's days like that that make me sad to be a Human being."

Our dinner was magnificent! It was of mostly a French variety with some other European flavours. I had lobster that was drizzled with lemon sauce and a side of risotto. Mr. Umbakta had a Pollo Parmesean melt with mushrooms and gravy dripped over it. He also made sure to order some Bouillabaisse. The other delegates also sampled some of the local food, but the Sangheili, 'Refum, insisted that his food be made with intensity and spices be put in everthing... even the water... He said that it was a warrior's way of eating, and he would see to it that every meal was a battle of the taste buds.

I guess that somebody didn't want to go into politics either!

After the dinner, I was told that I was going to get some sleep, and then in the morning, we would start the proceedings. I know I need a good night's sleep, but I also know that I need to do some number crunching. So here I am sitting up on my bed with my papers at my side, my laptop on my lap, and a pint of cookie dough ice cream in my arm, and I am dressed in a beautiful Chanel sleep gown! Complementary!

Ugh, I got to end this and go over the figures of the projected montly trade and tariff levels. Did I mention that I hate politics?

::END ENTRY::


	41. Entry 41: November 13th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: November 13th, 3234<br>Entry Made 1540 (3: 40 PM)  
>Dear Journal,<p>

Day 1 of my crash course of Interstellar politics has ended on a somewhat positive note. This was the first time that I have been in a board room with these people and I find that it seemed like a perfectly normal experience. Here in Geneva, we were able to get a special United Nations government building completely reserved for the conference. It was smack dab in the middle of town surrounded by parks and lakes. To the bystanders on the street the building would look like a pointed cylinder shooting up in the air resting on multiple spired buildings. In a way, I was reminded of the castle back home, but I knew that the French arctitecture put this in a different league entirely.

From the moment I woke up at... 7 AM, if I remember, I was whisked away by porters who already had a dress picked out for me. It was a yellow low cut outfit that went a little bit lower than my collarline (but not TOO far), and and reaching down past my feet. It was horrendous. I felt like Belle in Beauty and the Beast wearing this thing! I saw one of Mr. Umbakta's assistants! She was wearing a smart skirt and a long sleeve dress coat! She wasn't even wearing heels! I swear to God, someone lets slip that there's a princess coming to this party and everyone's rushing to make her FEEL like she's a princess! I mean, If I had a bit of say in this (or had enough time to draw breath), I would insist that I would wear some more comfortable clothes! Did you know that Humans still use torture devices like a dress underlay to keep those things up? What's next, puffed sleeves? Wait, wait, wait... I don't want to jinx it.

Now, I can't say everything that I've heard and discussed at this meeting because this was a fairly serious thing concerning my planet. According to the event's outline, this is a very serious step in bringing a major technological civilization into the larger scheme of things. At the beginning of the conference we mainly discussed what Mobius had to offer in terms of resources or goods. I had to put my foot down in the beginning stating that my kingdom will not deal in non-renewable resources, no-way-no-how. To my surprise, they stated that Humanity tried not to deal so much in non renewable and more towards what could be readily replenished and renewed. This certainly struck a blow to what some Mobians thought of Humanity. Of course, to be fair, the other civilizations were saying the same thing... with the exception of the Lyshad, the reptilian creatures that I mentioned earlier. First Prelate Khaash, the representative for the Protectorate wanted to know what ores we had available. On principle, I shot back with the question of what they would use the ore for - provided we agreed on that in the first place. He was a bit hesitant, and eventually Umbakta and 'Refum urged him to forget about it for now.

I later learned that the ore was being used to construct bladed weapons which the Lyshad place very highly. I wanted to know why they didn't just make their own blades, but Khaash explained that his home world was metal poor. I think it was still a cover for something. During the recess I learned from the Garim Consulate that the Lyshad sometimes had a bit of insecurity when asking for something. He said that most likely the Lyshad wanted some extra ore to help rebuild after a civil war ravaged one of their planets. I know that it was a bit of a deception into the real reason they wanted trading, but I felt sympathetic over it. I told the Consulate that I would consider it.

I don't remember much over the next couple of hourse except a constant stream of numbers and statistics. I remember seeing a pie graph in there somewhere and THAT was where my stomach began to complain. I'm pretty sure that the sound filled up the entire hall. Oh damn the consumption of nutrients. So there I was, sitting a bit sheepishly in my seat knowing that the entire hall was looking at me. Mr. Umbakta came to my rescue.

"I request a lunch break." He proposed. The rest of the delegates agreed.

Oh God. I was so embarassed. I was pretty sure I was crowned the laughingstock of the summit! And why in the HELL did the room have to be so big? The sound must have reverberated for thirty seconds! I knew I shouldn't have skipped breakfast to make the tram! It's a bit scary how one action - be it voluntary or not - can change someone's opinion of you. I'm not saying that I won't get any Christmas cards or anything, but... could my stomach have growled in someplace nice and open instead?

So I sat in the dining room again, trying hard not to wolf down the filet mingnion that the waiter brought to me. In that one moment, I never saw a more beautiful dish in my life. Actually, I was reminded of the MREs that we recieved in the field. MRE means 'Meal Ready to Eat' that was consumed by the servicemen and women of the UNSC, and possibly by other militaries too. They are cheap, and usually don't taste as great. I know that officers are invited to parties and dinners, but the enlisted troops aren't so lucky.

I'm sorry, I just have the image of the Lieutenant in the pyramid just cursing my name when he finds out I had an extravagant dinner and he didn't get much more than freeze dried bananas and raspberry bran bars! Oh, I'm so evil that way!

So, Mr. Umbakta and his friend Roy Abdullah came to sit with me and we discussed some possibilities that I could relay back my parents concerning the desires for goods following the construction of the Orbital Defense Grid for Mobius. Now, that was classified, so no notes on that.

Two more days. I think that I can hang on for two more days. Who's that at the door? Come in!

Oh! Sonic! Thank Mobius you're here!

::END ENTRY::


	42. Entry 42: November 15th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: November 15th, 3234<br>Entry Made 2020 (8:20 PM)

Dear Journal,

I can never stop thinking about how hard our job is, and what I do outside of this conference. It's a big bad galaxy out there and we've just been swept along with it. I might be sitting on my bed talking about how many ships will be allowed to dock at Mobius per month now, but I'll be back in the field soon doing what I do best: fighting Robotnik. That is our job!

But sometimes I really hate our job. Eggman has bigger toys and by principle, we too need to up the ante, and that includes familiarizing ourselves with the latest weapons and technology available to the UNSC and their allies.

I remember when we used to be a peaceful race with hundreds of years of peace between wars. An accident like the one that happened in June changed everything and made us remember that peace wasn't forever. It's our Human blood in us that drives us on in battle. I think of us as something of kin in a way, as we were both raised on the same Mother Earth and shined on by the same Father Sun, up to the point where we were no longer children. Humanity, being the elder child, managed to reach the stars first. Did you know that since the Dark Ages, no major technology had been invented? We had aerospace craft hundreds of meters long yet we didn't have any sort of FTL drive. We were stuck on our own planet.

That's why I see the Arrival as something of an act of God or something like that. We now have access to everything we would ever need as we too develop to the point where we will venture out into the universe.

So I'm going about praising Humanity for allowing us to expand, but why do I hate being a Freedom Fighter at times? It's because I'm not too confident to see that it is possible to lose a fight. I just received word yesterday that a heavy encounter of Robotnik's troops were made about fifty lightyears within Sangheili space. Now, the Sangheili are not a group of people you would want to piss off if you're smart enough, and even though he's a genius, Eggman can be stupid as a rock at times. According to combat reports sent back on emergency channels, Robotnik took a gas giant three times the size of Jupiter from the Sangheili and used it as a refueling station, complete with boasting about how it was all his. About twelve ships guarded the thing with cloned Chaos Shards fueling their guns. The Sangheili were pushed back until he controlled the whole system. This was a monumental day for the Doctor: he had conquered his first star system and wasn't planning on stopping any time soon.

Now, the UN decided to strike at once, because the system had a bountiful carbide asteroid belt, a terrestrial planet, as well as two gas giants including the one he rolled over in his initial attack. That one system could have started a whole lot of trouble, that is of course until the boys at Earth heard about it. Mobius felt that this was partly their fault as well, and I can't say that I disagree with them. The Joint Ministers of Staff consulted my parents and convinced them to send the first batch of the Mixed Species Task Force (MSTF) besides OMEGA out into the stars. These were supposed to be some of the best warriors in both our spaces. According to the report, the person in charge was a Mobian and ex-Freedom Fighter named Beowulf the Wolf (nice choice), along with two additional Freedom Fighters and a fire team of SOCOM units. The plan was that Beowulf's team would ride what was essentially a missile into the system, infiltrate the fueling station and blow it up, which would take out a vast majority of his ships. Then, the cavalry would move in. Sangheilios also gave the plan their blessing and even sent in their greatest military warrior: a man known as the Arbiter.

This was all a great plan and I was sure that it would strike a blow to Robotnik's scattered, random, yet powerful attacks. You had the best of the best going in, the most powerful warrior aiding them, an airtight plan, and resources unlike any could imagine.

However, that wasn't what happened. Things went horribly wrong right off the bat.

Beowulf's team departed Hidalgo, a planet about three hundred lightyears from the border, and they sent data every three hours, but once they crossed the border into the system, the insertion craft dropped out of Slipspace, altered direction and flew into the target gas giant. The team proceeded to transmit... 'data' for an additional ten minutes as they entered the giant's atmosphere and then... stopped after descending 20,000 miles.

It was a horrible way to go, and the mission controllers got the whole conversation. I don't think the team knew exactly what was happening until the hull started to collapse. Seven people lost their lives before their mission even started, and it was clear that the cause was sabotage.

Then it started getting worse. The Arbiter's escorts managed to bring him to the command center on the terrestrial planet, but as soon as he was down there, the escorts died within ten minutes, and the Arbiter himself went out in an explosion caused by a Chaos blast. It was the first time the Sangheili grand general was killed in combat in almost three hundred years. Robotnik's breaking records left and right.

We need to rethink our tactics. We need to get better. We need to strike harder, and I'm hoping that once this conference is wrapped up, I can start going out there and completing missions and EARNING my rank, not just having it there as an honorable one. I know that I have to finish this summit, but I am sick and tired of sitting here while people die for nothing!

I need to have a bit of light in my life though. Sonic's been making this conference much more bearable, although today he nearly had the authorities chasing after him AGAIN. Speedy Gonzales likes to run all over the place when given an opportunity. It turns out, he really likes the wooded areas of France since it feels a lot like back home. I'd like to see a bit more of the countryside as well. Maybe before I leave tomorrow I can go out with him and he can show me a few mountaintops. Right now he's probably at some restaurant that serves the greasiest food in the city. Unfortunately for him, the French are all about fine dining! He'll have to search high and low for the best chili-dog out there and he has the attention span of a goldfish.

Hah, it gives me a good feeling when I can still laugh in troubled times. I really envy the people on this planet who can go about their business and lives blissfully unaware of what goes on in the heavens. These people may not care about what happens in the solar system next to theirs or a thousand lightyears away, but Mobius help me, I will do everything in my power to make sure they never have to feel the same fear that we did.

And with that, I bid you all goodnight.

:END ENTRY::


	43. Entry 43: November 19th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: November 19th, 3234<br>Entry Made 1230 (12:30 PM)

Dear Journal,

The big day is coming at last! The day that I finally get to have another extended conversation with the me from another universe! Truth be told, I am a bit nervous about seeing her again. She's so different than me; so strange. She's smaller, less muscular, and just has a certain quality about her that separates her from me. I know that Tails has told me many times that alternate universes may have different types of histories, but it still is scary as soon as we do away with the theoretical factors and actually see something like this in action.

Her Mobius is different from the one I am on. As the Lieutenant once said to me about alternate universes, "The game is the same, but the rules are different."

I wonder if that is an accurate statement. Is the game truly the same as you hop around Existence? True, there are infinite universes out there, but do they all follow our formula? I shouldn't be thinking too hard on that. Sentient beings can only process so much. I don't think we were supposed to be able to comprehend anything past our universe.

I read something absolutely amazing. A very long time ago, before civilization as we know it existed on Earth, Humanity... had an interstellar empire! Yeah! 150,000 years ago in their universe, Humanity had actually become a galactic megapower! Now, I've mentioned the Forerunners a few times before. These were enigmatic aliens that were incredibly advanced to the point where they could influence the evolution of other species. In this prehistoric time, Humanity was fighting a war with the Forerunners. I haven't read into what caused the war, but I can tell you that Humanity lost and was devolved. They were sent back to their home planet of Erde-Tyrene – known as Earth today.

Such a thing seems like an impulsive thing to do. Sure there was a war, but by what right did the Forerunners have to destroy an entire civilization? They didn't! I know that they were fighting to try and keep their territory, but they acted out of jealousy. Humanity had achieved a technological dominance close to the Forerunners in less time than they had.

I'll tell you more about what the Humans did to get back at the Forerunners, but I have to get to it. Today though, a very small amount of people outside of historians know about the true history of the Human race. To be fair, I don't blame them. I don't think they could see that there was little to support the historical record such as lack of architecture... although it wouldn't be beyond ONI's means to cover it up.

Not to mention that would shake up society. I mean, extraterrestrial life pretty much shook up society. Alien races with a religion that deemed _they_ were the chosen people shook up society. Almost having your entire race exterminated in _30 years_ DEFINETELY shook up society. Seven hundred years later, people forget that. I guess a brush with a revolutionary event might remind Humanity of their place in the universe. We aren't programmed to accept realities beyond our own. Since we are more or less Human in our genetic base, we should work the same way. I mean, to have infinite universes that have infinite possibilities... that are just unfathomable - without fathom. Many people can't accept that unless they see it. I think Mobians are special in this respect because we have experienced this multiple times. The Chaos Emeralds have allowed us views into alternate realities and for the most part, we as a collective species are aware of it. Humanity has more important things on their mind, so the vast majority of their trillion-person population shouldn't _have_ to worry about it and go on with their lives, buying and selling stuff.

I'm getting excited now. I might as well tell you how I got back to Mobius: Mom and Dad came to Earth to relieve me. They've been keeping up with my efforts over the last couple of days and they could tell that I wasn't really having a good time talking with different species over a planned shared trading agreement and tariff level. They were right, you know. I can only take a Gallvente talking about how they would like to add another surname because of this so called 'civilization-changing' deal for so long. Fantastic Mr. Yadda Yadda Blah Blah Etcetera Whatever.

I know that might sound racist, but when he insists on you calling him that every SINGLE time, you get annoyed. For the sake of my sanity, just call him by the family name.

Anyway, it was Sonic that kept me going through the entire thing. We went all around Geneva, looking at neat things. Sonic really focused on the food, but he didn't like it because it was too fancy for him! It's not easy to find a chilli dog in Switzerland! We spent another day in the mountains where a bunch of artificial rivers and waterfalls flowed into the valleys. A few buildings that looked like they were from Forerunner basing were in the hills, making it seem alien and familiar at the same time.

I've never been to the Mobian Geneva area. I guess I'm going to need to just for a level of... perspective. Humanity's changed. I wonder if it's for the better.

I wonder what the Other Sally's world is like. What rules does their game play by? Their world is different. They actually evolved on that planet! They didn't have a strange migration like we did! That's amazing! She did want one thing though: She wanted to see the Lieutenant. I guess she wanted even more confirmation that Humanity was actually still alive and kicking. They didn't seem _as_ advanced as we are. They probably didn't achieve FTL flight or transdimensional status.

I have to get that Human here before the days is out. I know I'm making a lot of requests, but Admiral Andsworth has to pull him out of that Pyramid yet again. I'm a bit sad that Knuckles will still be in that place. I know he will watch that Master Emerald alone. He'll still have aid and reinforcements when needed though.

I have to get ready, and I what should I wear? I think the vest and boots would be nice, but the Other Sally might be wearing them as well! I think it would be funny.

I'm so excited that I can barely wait!

Just one more day!

:END ENTRY:


	44. Entry 44: November 20th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: November 20th, 3234<br>Entry Made 0930 (9:30 AM)

Dear Journal,

"I have just about everything ready! The Marine's shuttle just landed twenty minutes ago. I can't believe this is the day! This is the day that we meet ourselves! How exciting!

Ensign, I want that aperture monitored at all times!"

[UKN] "Aye aye, ma'am!"

"Lieutenant Commander, once that gate opens up, I want to make triple sure that the particle accelerators keep on pumping in fresh neutrinos!"

[UKN] "You got it, ma'am!"

"We are NOT losing this gate, people! Ah, Human!"

[VENN.] "We got held up on the ride over from the airport. I swear to God, you need a few skyways around here. That would clear up the traffic no problem."

"You're cutting it awfully close, Human!"

[V] "I'm here, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are. Why aren't you in full uniform?"

[V] "Because full uniform includes my armor. Unless you want me to look like I'm planning to storm the beaches, I'll be fine in my BDU*."

"*sigh* Alright, fine whatever. Just make sure your hat is straight, and make sure your gun is unloaded."

[V] "Way ahead of you. All mags are in the utility belt."

"Good. Now stand akimbo and await further orders. Clear?"

[V] "Yes ma'am."

"Sonic, glad you're here. Nice to see you dressed up."

[SONIC] "What dressing up?"

"Exactly. Tails, start the sequence. They should be synching up soon."

At this point, the miniature jumpgate starts up. The particle collider starts to spin up, neutrinos slam into one another and that energy rips a hole in space and time. At first, there was no real universe on the other side of the gate except for a weird swirling gray soup. I don't know exactly what it was. Maybe it was another universe, or maybe it was somewhere outside of space entirely. I know that Tails would be really fascinated by this sort of thing. I'll be sure to ask him after this. Then, the image started to become pure white, just like the Jumpgate near the end of a trip.

"What's the status of the aperture, Ensign?"

[UKN] "Aperture showing one hundred percent integrity, energy efficiency is 97.4 percent."

"Can we push that to 98 percent?"

[UKN] "I'll give it a try."

Just then, voices came from the other side

[UKN] "_Try to smooth out the opening. Looks like they're ready to talk to us!"_

The view cleared, and I saw Princess Sally Acorn. I saw myself

"Well, hello, stranger!"

[OTHER SALLY] "I'm glad we could see each other again!"

"Well I have been busy."

[OS] "Likewise. Robotik's been giving us a lot of trouble. You don't know how tough we've had it."

"Actually, I beg to differ. We've had such important, groundbreaking advances that our society is scrambling to keep up."

[OS] "What sort of advances?"

I was barely able to control my excitement just talking about this.

"We're part of an intragalactic group of sentient species called the Alliance! The Humans helped truly bring us into the 33rd Century! We got technology, medical supplies, they gave us starships—"

[OS] "Starships? Did you say 'starships'?"

She was curious. Genuinely inquisitive. I decided to indulge her. Not like she could have done anything about that.

"Yes. We are now a truly spacefaring species. As of right now, my people have explored vast parts of the Human universe."

[OS] "So, aliens do exist then? They're peaceful, not like..."

"Yes, not like _them_."

[OS] "So you do know about them."

She sighed sadly as she made eye contact. I said with fiery passion,

"When the time comes, we will make the Xorda pay for what they've done. We will find them and bring justice, Alliance style!"

Chris nodded approvingly giving a small smile. I knew that my words were motivational. The whole business with the Xorda exterminating all life on this Earth was personal. He more than anybody I knew wanted those Space Cephs** dead, but I didn't know whether his feelings for violence would cloud his judgement or not. To wish for the extermination of an entire species is not a kind thought. He wasn't there though. His Earth is still there and he can kindly shut the hell up about it. Should we find any Xorda along the way, he has my permission to kick their Space Calamari*** asses.

[OS] "The Xorda ravaged our world once. This was a long time ago. We evolved on this planet."

"That's where I have to stop you. We did not originate on Mobius."

[OS] "You didn't? Where then?"

"Earth. Technically, our ancestors were brought as specimens to colonize a new world, but an accident transported them here instead."

She looked me over.

[OS] "Why are you so... _tall_?"

"I was about to ask, why are you so _small_?"

[OS] "I... I don't know."

[TAILS] "Actually I can answer that one, Aunt... Sally."

[OS] Tails? You're all grown up?"

[T] "Nope. I'm 12."

[OS] "Oh this is confusing. Go on... big guy."

[T] "My hypothesis is at the point of the point of the First Arrival in 2290, our ancestors had DNA strands rapidly replaced by Human genetic material as well as a variety of stem cells from a spontaneous transferring reaction. The cause was a cloud which we believe was originally designed to disperse Human tissue."

[OS] "The Xorda..."

[T] "But our ancestors' bodies had to rapidly adjust to the Human tissue samples over multiple generations, allowing them to look more and more like Humans through a process known as Progressive Mutation. Along the way, Humans helped our Second Evolution."

[OS] "There were Humans on Mobius? Our Mobius – well, Your Mobius?"

[T] "Yes, but no native Human has been seen in four hundred years. It is possible that they were affected by a strain of virus known as Darwin's Plague, a contagious disease that cause the rapid breakdown of vital organ functions of Human beings. My guess is that it was a Xorda contingency plan. It worked in the end.

"Or did it, Tails? There were legends of Human researchers who left for a secret location trying to find a cure. It's possible that they may have done it."

[T] "I'm not that type, Aunt Sally. I work in fact, not speculation."

[OS] "Given that explanation, we evolved naturally on this planet. I guess that would explain the... lack of stature."

"Nothing to be ashamed of. You have to do this naturally. We cheated." I smiled. "In about twenty thousand years, you'll look just like is."

[OS] "Oh, that's such a long time."

"For right now, be thankful. In one of our religions, you've been blessed by Matthew Mobius with the gift of Ascension, or the Second Evolution. You are no longer animals, but sentient beings capable of striking out on their own."

The Other Sally looked a bit crestfallen. I think it was because she figured out that her Mobius was at an earlier technological level than ours was. I think it may have spurred feelings of jealousy. Though it was my guess that she had not experienced alternate universes (They called them 'Zones') as we did.

She looked around once more, scrutinizing the Naval personnel, as well as the Marine standing not three feet behind me."

"Overlander." She said, probably out of instinct.

[V] "_Human_."

[OS] "I'm sorry. It's so hard to tell the difference. Tell me about Earth."

[V] "Earth is the center of our interstellar empire. We not only live, but we thrive. Like you, our planet had been pushed to the brink of destruction and us to the precipice of extinction by an alien race. We called them The Covenant."

For some reason, the Other Sally shook at that name. Why? Why would she show shock for an alien race she didn't even know existed... was there more to this tale?

[OS] "Tell me about them."

[V] "They were a collection of alien races that were hell-bent on destroying Humanity because their gods said so."

[OS] "You won?"

[V] "I'm standing here, aren't I?"

[OS] "You are dressed in a combat uniform with the rank of Lieutenant. You're military."

[V] "UNSC Marine Corps, ma'am. Already at your service. I've been stuck as the Princess' Protector since I've been on this planet. Of course, I'm the last surviving one."

[OS] "Oh... I'm sorry."

[V] "It happens, you know? Those boys gave their lives protecting her Highness and I will do my duty and make sure no harm comes of her, until my dying breath."

The Other Sally seemed to peek around the Human. I turned my head slightly and saw a scowl come from Sonic. It was brief. As soon as he saw that I was watching, he returned to a smiling face.

[OS] "Do Mobians exist on other worlds now?"

"Yes and no. As of right now because of political reasons, you'll mainly find them on Earth, but a few have asked to go to the Inner Colonies to start new lives as farmers, scientists, or people who just wanted a new beginning."

[V] "Tell her about the Chaos Emeralds."

"Oh yes, we have jewels in our universe called Chaos Emeralds that can manipulate time and space as we've learned. It is also possible for them to open these rifts in Existence for us to talk to you."

[OS] Yeah, we have those too over here, but we don't know much about them. We think they were created when our Earth became Mobius.

[T] That's what we thought too until we did a atomic pulse dating procedure, putting these jewels well over 80 _Million_ years old. We think that they were created by a hyper-intelligent race of aliens called the Forerunners, who may have had interuniverse transport."

[V] "Or maybe someone even older. Forerunners said that another race existed before theirs... the name escapes me."

[S] "Yo, can I get a turn in here?"

"Oh we haven't forgotten you. Sonic, meet Sally."

[OS] "Oh, we know each other quite well. I trust that your talents don't change over universes?"

[S] "Yup! I'm still the super speedy hedgehog no matter where I am!"

[OS] "How different are things for you?"

[S] "Huh, not much. I do get tired from running from time to time. I don't know how your Sonic is, but sometimes I can't run as fast as I want to, which totally bums me out."

Then, the Other Sally put a hand to her mouth and thought. She looked between me, Sonic, and the Human. She then asked,

[OS] "Sally, what do you think of Humans?"

"They're a race of people who have experienced much trauma and fear in the past that need to have a ray of light in their lives. I'm hoping that as Mobians we can make their lives more peaceful in the long run."

[OS] "Sonic, your thoughts?"

[S] "I don't think Humanity has changed a single bit. Everywhere I look there are more forms of destruction waiting to spring out of their minds. I think that they need to take lessons on how to be a better race from us."

[V] "Were you so different? I've read your history books. The Mobians were JUST as destructive in the Great War. Remember how your people destroyed the vast majority of the Overlander population? Don't know about you, bucko, but we have a name for that: _Genocide_."

[S] "_Shut up!"_

[OS] "Lieutenant... I don't believe I caught your name..."

The Human saluted sharply. He was well aware that she was still royalty, despite being two feet shorter than I was.

[V] "Vennettilli, First Lieutenant Chris J. Vennettilli, at your service."

[OS] "Lieutenant, I want your opinion on the matter."

[V] "Quite honestly, I think we still have much to learn. In contrast to some of the other races we have discovered, we're much younger and we're less experienced. We fight because it is our nature."

[OS] "Why did you join the military?"

[V] "I didn't join. I was conscripted."

[OS] "Conscription?"

[V] "Unfortunately. I made a living out of it, and I got a bit of perspective on life."

The Other Sally paced around and leaned up against a wall.

[OS] "Sometimes I wonder what it's like out there. Sometimes I wonder what it's like to be among the stars."

"I once thought exactly the way you are."

[OS] "But… but we can't. We have Robotnik to worry about. He's a force to be reckoned with on Mobius."

[V] "You think you have it tough? How about us? We have to track down this guy who has a small fleet of starships and is currently recruiting some of the worst bunches of mercenaries and genocidal aliens all for the purpose of being immortal!"

She seemed shocked by this. She acted as if she had misunderstood something in the grand scheme of things. It confused the hell out of me.

[OS] "Starships? Immortality? Aliens? Your threat is greater than ours! But, we're supposed to be the Prime Zone! Our fate determines the fate of all!"

"You want to run that by me again?"

[OS] "Our zone is known as the Prime. Everyone here is the best that they can possibly be. There are no greater champions in all the Zones."

[T] "That logic is impossible. There is no such thing as perfection or 'best' when dealing with alternate universes."

[OS] "It's the TRUTH!"

She seemed agitated, and I wasn't sure why. Who the hell decided that they were the chosen people? Aren't our needs important here too? All I know is that that made me a bit angry.

"Listen, we have our own problems to deal with. We have our champions, you have yours. In my opinion, your Robotnik is welcome to come over here and get his butt handed to him by the combined forces of Mobius and Earth!"

[V] "Oorah."

[OS] "You don't understand. You will _never_ understand. Your existence, your entire timeline is _secondary_ compared to ours. I'm not sure why, but it is what it is. I'm sorry we can't talk further. Tails is reporting that the Zone Portal is overheating. We'll have to shut it down for now. I will contact you this week. We'll discuss things further."

With that, the portal closed. I stared at the extrauniversal soup the loomed beyond the aperture. I looked at our Tails and asked, "What's the status of our warpgate?"

[T] "Status green. All neutrino and Higgs-Boson injectors report green. No overheating whatsoever."

[S] "Guess Miss High and Mighty isn't as advanced as she thought. _Prime_. Just the name makes me sick. I'm Sonic no matter where I am, and nobody can tell me otherwise."

[V] "I dunno, I think she has a genuine sense of enlightenment. Something weird is going on in that end."

[UKN] "We can begin the cooldown sequence now, Highness."

"Thank you Ensign. I want the post deactivation spin cycle done now. Commander, log the status of our little call and file for future reference."

[UKN] "Yes, ma'am."

We began to walk from the room. I asked Sonic, "Do you think she's right? Do you think we're inferior? Not like them?"

[S] "Sal, at the end of the day, if I can get to kick Buttnick's behind, I always feel like I'm the best."

"What about you, Chris?"

[V] "Highness, I'm a Marine. To me, being the best is everything. If I weren't top in all I did, I wouldn't be here with you now. Now that person on the other end of that universe can say all she wants about how their universe is better, but in this universe, WE matter. WE are the most important ones, and damn it, nobody's going to talk down to me like that. Not even you... erm... technically."

"I get the point. Down, boy."

[S] "Hang on, this whole thing is about Mobius. Not Earth. What, does that make you Earth Prime?"

[V] "I don't know. I'm not a quantum interpreter. I can't judge the order of things. Who's to say that we aren't Earth Prime, or whether we are all Primes in our own universe?"

[S] "Sure would make me feel a hell of a lot better than I am right now."

"Sonic, come back!"

Then he left. He didn't say where he was going. He just walked out the door and was gone.

So it was an interesting visit. One that had major existential questions. If they were the primes, the best... what were we then? We had much more war than them. We had more technology than them. We had the edge on every avenue... yet why were we considered inferior? What god judges us and puts us lower on the food chain? Does God play favourites in this area, or does He forsaken us? I am aware that Matthew Mobius is considered a spiritual figure, but he had no power whatsoever aside from nurturing the first Mobians.

In the end, I think it's all in our head. I think that we are only as important as we think we are. Professor Argyle Vanderbilt said in 2793, 'Our place in the universe is only relative to what we perceive as importance. If we think of ourselves as the saviours of mankind, then we truly are.'

Nice quote, huh? I had to go through a search session to find the perfect one.

I guess our mindset must be one similar to the one that Professor Vanderbilt said. This Dutch-born quantum theorist may have just lightened the mood for me. Maybe it's not so bad being second banana to a bunch of Halflings like those Mobians. I mean, look at it this way: someone else has to deal with a lot more trouble than we do.

I'm not sure where Sonic is right now. He's majorly disappointed. Normally he has it in his head that he's the hero, and I have to admit, he really showed it from time to time. But when the Humans showed up, he felt threatened by the Marines, who took strides to show that they could also be heroes, but to hear it from her... from _me_, that there was another Sonic who was a better Sonic than he was? That broke his heart. I'm sure of it.

Lieutenant Vennettilli said that he could commandeer a Pelican dropship and search for him, but I advised against it. He just needs a few hours to clear his head and come back right as rain. It would be a waste of jet fuel. What did she think of me though? I certainly thought we had enough justification to be considered Primes like her... but I think that she thought I was arrogant in those thoughts. I wonder... _can they read our minds_?

Ugh, got a draught for a second.

Another thought that came in my mind is... where are their Humans? There was no representation of Christopher on their side. That can mean that no Humans exist on their side.**** Chris' ancestors most likely died in the original Xorda bombing. I could see out of the corner of his eye how shocking it was to see something like that.

This planet seems to be a minor horror to him, but I have to keep reminding him that his home is waiting for him, perfectly untouched and thriving.

I have to go to Canada next.

Alright. That's enough for now. I'll probably see the Other Sally tomorrow. Perhaps we can get some more useful info from them. We shall see soon.

:END ENTRY:

* * *

><p><strong>*BDU - Battle Dress Uniform<br>******'Ceph' meaning Cephalopod, which is a member of the mollusk family. Octopi are a well known member.  
>*** Space Calamari - my own little insult. Use that one if you want!<br>****Now, this universe doesn't know about Station Square in the Prime Zone, and Station Square on this Mobius is a Human settlement established later in the storyline. **


	45. Chapter 45: November 21st, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: November 21st, 3234<br>Entry Made 2020 (8:20 PM)

Dear Journal,

I'm still wondering about what really happened yesterday. The Other Sally seems to be quite adamant that her universe is the one that is destined to determine the fate of all others. I mean, that sounds a little impulsive, doesn't it? I mean, you don't just say to your next door neighbour, 'I'm better than you are, and you would die without me!'

See where I'm coming from here? Kind of rude if I do say so myself.

Maybe it's just the way I'm taking it. I mean, it's no small thing to be told that you're a lesser power in the universe. You're not the center of everything. The question that bugs me is this: if we're not the center of attention, then just _what_ are we then? Everyone has a purpose – in this case, every universe. So, what is our use? Maybe in good time I'll discover that, but for the time being, I have to keep fishing. She said that she would contact me again, but she didn't specify on who to bring.

Chris decided to go out and look for Sonic anyway. Tails went with him along with a squad of palace guards headed by Commander Gary, and a fire team of Marines headed by Sergeant Dunlop-Carol. Both parties received a Pelican courtesy of the _Indomitable_ (Andsworth was feeling generous today), and went to go look for him.

I think it's a bit of a bad deal. I mean, Sonic has _super-speed_. He can be anywhere in the country, anywhere on the continent, hell, anywhere on the _planet_ given he has the right directions! Something sensitive must have been knocked over in his skull because of this! In a sense, Sonic has lost his use – remember what I said about use? Without use, without feeling like the hero, he feels helpless and reduced to a weakened state. While I am sure this will reveal a side of Sonic rarely seen, he would want to avoid showing that sign. I believe the Humans might call that cowardice, but I think I call that sensitivity.

Sensitivity however, is a two-way street. It can garner help and support, but it can also cause, in extreme cases, disgust. I think Sonic knows that and wants to hide that from us... from me.

I just want him to come back and we can talk about this like adults. This is extremely childish of him! I know he's been dealt a blow, but his ego can recover.

But... what would I do when I'm upset? I would probably go to my room and shut the door too.

I'll have to think about that more later. I have more news to report, and I'm sure that this is great!

According to a news report, Alliance Internal Affairs (AIA), as well as the Interstellar Travel Bureau (ITB) have cleared the regulations for mass transit between the jumpgate! This means that Mobians will be able to go to Earth as well as vice versa.

According to the report *ahem*, '_Francois Mor stated, 'It is time for the descendants of Matthew Mobius' Lost Million to learn about their origins and visit the world that held their ancestors. We consider this an opportunity to rebuild ties to their past, as well as teach us about the future.''_

I can see this being quite lucrative for our respective races, and the House of Parliament really got behind the agreement with the UEG, but I have a couple of concerns regarding this, as great as the proceedings may be.

Humans are Humans, no matter where they are, and I know Humans litter from time to time. This will not be tolerated. I know that Earth has a green society when it comes to power and buildings... but old habits and all that.

Secondly, no corporation shall touch this planet's resources without my parents' seal of approval. I understand that there may be need from time to time, but Earth's gotten along just fine without tapping their own planet. You have a thousand worlds to choose from, use them. However, we cannot speak for the Asteroid Belt, or the gas giants. Those will not be covered by our agreement and are free to be mined to their heart's content.

Lastly, settlements. I understand that Mobius is largely unsettled and we have a small population, but for the time being, no settlements will be built in any locations... however, I have seen a few suggestions today of what one would be called though if we were to put one on the planet. Such suggestions include...

Jamestown

New Eden

Station Square (Odd one, really. What's the significance?)

Paradise Landing

All of these names seem to have some sort of variation of a new beginning or some sort. Jamestown was the name of one of the first settlements in the United States in the 17th Century. Eden and Paradise are biblical places of unending beauty.

But who the HELL came up with Station Square? Even more interesting, why did anybody agree with it in the first place?

But that's not important to me right now. I'm worried about finding my friend who's out there right now, probably lost really. Sonic has a keen sense of running, but that has a bit of a limit when it comes to a sense of direction. In theory, he could be lost forever. He's never been very far on his own. Sonic likes exploration, but he likes it more when he can find his way back home. He liked it that way on Reach when he was constantly in touch with us when he was running all over Visegrad Valley and the Viery territory... but that was with communication.

Where is he...?

I just got a report now! Captain Grey's telling me that Sonic was sighted outside of a small town near Lake Placada... almost five hundred miles away. They had a radio tower at an airport and were able to contact the Pelicans. Lieutenant Vennettilli's Pelican is not reporting in, but the GPS is putting them twenty miles away from Captain Grey.

I'm chasing ghosts out here. I'm always two steps behind him! If I don't find him... he'll probably head deeper into the Northern Forests, and I don't want to know what he'll do up there. Nova Kanadans are not quite as hospitable as we are.

Lieutenant Vennettilli's Pelican just reported in. They're going to search a low-lying gully in the Tiberius Foothils just a dozen miles from their position. Maybe they can find clues in there. Those boys will be working through the night, just to Find Sonic.

I'll stay awake for a few more hours taking in reports for the search, but I just can't be sure. I can't fall asleep. Not yet.

Lastly, I've received a letter from Antoine. Seems to have been in transit for three weeks! He's been to a planet called Substance where there's a working Halo ring! Halos were built by the Forerunners, the ancient alien civilization from the Humans' universe! They were responsible for preserving the lives of everyone in the galaxy. Anyway, Substance, in the Coelest system has a Halo ring which has been repaired by... someone within the last couple hundred years.

Forerunner systems self-repair I think. That would make sense... but what happened all that time ago? What damaged Delta Halo? I need to go there next. According to scientific records, there may have been as many as 12 Halos in the galaxy, but now there's only six, and one was destroyed hundreds of years ago by an exploding starship.

Antoine said that the surface is varied between stretches of kilometres. One minute he was in a jungle and the next he was in a snowy tundra! Today, the rings are used for a variety of purposes. They are sites of research where scientists can monitor the effects of supermassive centrifugal exposure, to arable farming lands. There are even a few cities on Delta Halo. The largest is called Niven, and is located on the Mitten Peninsula!

Giant artificial structures ripe for colonization. If only this world was so lucky. Mobius was lucky to escape the Xorda. I don't think they left giant ringworlds out there for us to settle on.

That makes me curious. These Chaos Emeralds were said to possibly have some connection to the Forerunners. Were the Forerunners ever truly here? The device we found in Cayro a few months ago suggests this, but why?

Perhaps some Forerunner fled here. Perhaps some of them explored alternate dimensions. I don't think I'll ever know unless I can get in one of their Libraries, and for that, I need to be a Reclaimer – a Human specifically... or know a couple of them...

Got another status report. They think that Sonic might be somewhere near a city called Rockridge. That's at the base of the Rocky Mountains... that's in the center of Northamer! ETA is approximately thirty minutes at cruising speed.

I... I need rest. I'll talk more when more developments come in.

:END ENTRY:


	46. Entry 46: November 22nd, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

Date: November 22nd, 3234  
>Entry Made 1421 hours (2:21 PM)<p>

Dear Journal,

A historic moment has occurred that we are all told we should be very honoured about! Today is the day that a massive Human cruiser has come to greet us, but this one is special. This was the starship that made history as the first to include traits of Forerunner technology! This is a ship called the _Infinity_! A massive cruiser that has a combination of UNSC and Forerunner systems and functions. This ancient craft was constructed in 2553, immediately after the Covenant War. The role of the ship was that of a technology demonstrator which, as you can guess, strolled about Human Space talking about the possibilities of Forerunner tech inclusion.

Some major parts of the inclusion was improved Slipspace drives, sublights, and communications that allowed faster COM signals through Slipspace, but the true grasp of the Forerunner FTL communications was just beyond reach.

This ship was beautiful. Hard to believe that this was just the concept model. Human ships today look much like they always have – utilitarian and boxy. I guess they decided that it was just best to keep the old ways in the long run. That isn't to say that there isn't Forerunner influences in ships like the _Indomitable_ of course. The forcefields in the launch bays, the COMs systems, some of the weapons, and electric systems take cues from Forerunner sources.

The _Infinity_ arrived in Mobius Orbit early this morning, around 7 AM I think. The ship herself was flanked by ten frigates and two _Apoptosis_-class Cruisers at the front and back. It was parade formation. Several news crews from Knothole, Albion, and Downunda showed up. There were even cities I have never even heard of trying to buy spots getting into orbit. Medicio, which is on the Floridian peninsula was trying to bribe Human officials with promises of money to get early transit tickets up to a temporary orbital platform, but were turned down. The Pagaggio journalist from New Florance actually tried to sneak his way past and has had his cameras confiscated by Secret Service.

Those that did get to go up to the platform got a spectacular site as they were ferried no less than twenty kilometres from the Jumpgate Aperture. The sight of this craft coming into our universe was worthy of stories I feel will last a long time.

The _Infinity_ is an ancient vessel. 700 years is a long time for a vessel to be around. Thanks to the Forerunner building materials this thing will last for a while, but she had been decommissioned close to four hundred and fifty years ago. She spent most of her time at the ArcturusHistorical Shipyards in orbit around Arcta II. I've seen this ship. I know a lot about it... but I never thought that something like this would light her engines ever again. I was rushed up to that platform to see the ship emerge. The frigates broke formation and flipped in graceful arcs as all of the manoeuvring thrusters provided flawless twirls. The cruisers swapped positions by floating over and under _Infinity_. They proceeded another thousand kilometres and then stopped.

Tails was right there next to me. He was so excited seeing such a craft that he couldn't even contain himself. He was naming off the possible systems that the ship possibly had. The kid was jumping around, and it was staring to bug the journalists!

Some asked me a few questions on what I thought about the ship and the visit. I told them that it was a good will assignment and that the ship was symbolism of the unity of two peoples and ideals. It was a metaphor for what Humanity wanted with the Mobians: unity and friendship. In the end I was totally talking out of my hat. I had no idea about the reason really, but I was pretty sure it was close to what I said. I was told that my parents were going aboard the _Infinity_ along with members of their counsel and members of the House of Parliament.

I was asked myself if I wanted to go aboard, but I realized with a shock that among the commotion, Sonic was still missing, and even more shocking was the fact that the man that would have appreciated this sort of welcome was nowhere near the ships. I said with a bit of disappointment that I would not be able to go and took the shuttle back down to the planet right away.

I watched that beautiful starship out of the window until it became a speck that shone like the stars behind it. We entered Mobius' atmosphere and I was back into Ops, the command center of the castle retrofitted with hybrid UNSC/Mobian tech. It was around mid-day at this point.

I learned that Sonic had _still_ not been found at this point and had lost my patience. I had ordered Commander Grey to return to Knothole, and proceed with a mid-air refuelling on the way home. Lieutenant Vennettilli refused though. I demanded that he explain his actions.

"_Your Highness_," he said, "_we're still working off a couple more leads I think we can find him soon._"

"You are wasting fuel and time, Marine." I ordered. "I want you to come back."

"_Princess, just hold on. The last settlement we were at told us that Sonic is in the ruins of Megaopolis. I... I think we can find him there_."

Megaopolis. Why?

Why would he go to the place that was a remnant of the ancient Human civilization that thrived on this version of Old Earth? I'll never truly understand why Sonic acts the way he does, so I allowed the Lieutenant's Pelican to continue to search the City. Here's the verbal feed from his helmet cam along with my narration of the events.

[SYSTEM BOOTING – ONLINE]

[UNSCMC LOG RECORDING – MARINE CORPS MISSION TAG 00 (RESCUE) 1145-9A2]

[11.22.3234.1301.54 T+00:00:05]

[1LT C. – 182 DIV/5 BATT/ OMEGA (CLASSIFIED)]

[BEGIN PLAYBACK]

"OK gentlemen! This is a mission that we have taken up to find our lost friend who is somewhere among what's left of this city!"

Another Marine piped in, "Sir, is this true that this is New York?"

"Yup. That's right. The Big Apple herself was brought down before her time on this rock. Millions of people died in this city."

"Oh my God." The same Marine said.

"Yeah. Be thankful, Marines! Our Earth is full of wonder and tech. Show respect to the dead and remember that we're not in Kansas anymore."

"Yes sir!" they all cried.

Chris moved into the cockpit where the pilots were looking for a place to land.

"Sir, what are we supposed to be looking for?"

"Hedgehog, Zeke." The Lieutenant said.

"A hedgehog. Why does that still not sound weird...?"

"Because you're new, Zeke. Check the color spectrum. We're looking for a very specific shade of color."

"Blue, right?" the second pilot suggested. His name was apparently Yergin.

"Azure blue, Yergin. Like the tide pools of Gestalt."

"Amen, baby." Yergin said. "Best shore leave of my life. Got it locked in."

"Launch the drone."

"Aye-aye, SIR!"

The UAV drone deployed from the Pelican's roof, speeding into the skies over Old Megaopolis. The drone scanned the buildings and the streets, looking for the odd difference in color that would lead them to Sonic.

"This is gonna be a long shot." Yergin said. "It's a whole city and we're looking for one guy.

"Based on what I heard," Chris said, "I think Sonic's worth searching a whole city for."

The console beeped and Yergin looked towards it. "Whoa... UAV's picked up a blip on the color spectrum... deep blue, sir!

"Nice. Where's it coming from?

"Looks like a stadium, sir." The other pilot said. "A baseball stadium."

"Can you put us down nearby? Don't scare him off or anything. The Princess will have my ass."

At that point I had to laugh. I wouldn't punish him THAT bad. Maybe his head on a platter, but not his ass. Not yet anyway!

"So, what's it like working for the Princess of Knothole, LT?" A Marine asked.

"It's a job, man." Chris said. There was no malice in his voice, or enthusiasm. He was just... talking. "It's another order I have to follow, and I'm good at taking orders."

"Right," another Marine said. "Like the order that told you to leave that VIP unarmed in a collapsing building?"

Chris turned to look at the man who said that. He wore mirrored sunglasses and was chewing on gum. Chris made sure he held the rigging as he walked to the troop hold. "Who said that?"

"Me sir." The perpetrator said. "Corporal Lewis van Wilder."

"How did you hear about that?"

"It's common knowledge." Van Wilder said. Some of the surviving Marines talked and mentioned your name.

"Yeah?"

"I think you're a fucking bastard for leaving that guy behind and letting that building fall around him. He just wanted to get out alive!"

Chris suddenly lashed out and grabbed the Marine's armoured collar. "You listen to me and listen to me good: I had my orders and I had to get out of there with that data. The VIP was no longer the priority. He was a defector in the first place."

"Are you going to leave the Princess in a collapsing building next, LT? Huh? You gonna be a hero again?"

Then came something that shocked me. Vennettilli grabbed van Wilder's arm and lifted him off the seat. "You listen to me you _piece of shit_! Not only are you disrespecting me, but you're disrespecting royalty who I report directly to! Yergin! What's our altitude?"

"3,000 feet – WHAT THE HELL?" The pilot's mouth gaped as he saw the action.

"You think I'm being a hero, Marine?"

"Sir, no sir!" van Wilder said.

"How does it feel to have a man's life in the palm of your hand?" Chris looked down from the very lip of the troop bay. "Lovely day out there, isn't it?"

"Sir, I'm sorry!"

"I asked you a fucking question!"

"Sir, it's a nice day out there, sir! Let me sit down!"

"I don't know, Mr. Van Wilder! You have no relevance to my mission, and thus should anything happen to you; it wouldn't conflict with my orders. Tell me, Mr. Van Wilder... can you fly?"

Sweat started to form on his brow. "Sir... no sir!"

"Hmm... well in that case you'd better stay away from this ledge." He let van Wilder loose and the young man dropped into his seat frightened.

"Sit down, shut your mouth and never say anything to piss me off again. Is that clear?"

"Aye-aye, sir!"

First, I have to say 'wow'. That was unexpected, and slightly uncalled for. I know that he was disrespecting a political figure and basically calling me weak, but you don't just dangle someone on a precipice 3,000 feet off the ground. I suppose there was a message in all of this, but I'm glad that he let the guy go sit down. I guarantee he won't mouth off again.

This story of a VIP might be interesting in checking out. I'll have to skim the Human's military record to see if I can find such an incident. Can't imagine what he felt at that time.

The Pelican touched down outside of the ancient stadium. Inside, trees and pools of water took over from where there was once constantly mowed lawns and neat sand mounds. Baseball is still played on Mobius, and much in the same way it used to be played, and it was interesting seeing a stadium belonging to the Ancients.

"Whoa... how is this building still standing?" A Marine asked.

"Don't ask me. I don't know." Chris said. Stow your weapons. We won't need them. We're finding Sonic. Don't draw your sidearms or you're walking home."

"Yes, sir!" They called out.

So they trekked through the crumbling halls into the center of the stadium. Around them grew trees that stretched dozens of feet into the air. Chirps of birds came from all around them and the trickling of a stream caught their attention. Chris looked around and saw Sonic sitting alone in the stands. He looked to his men.

"Hey, secure the area. I'm going to talk to him."

"What are we supposed to do?" van Wilder asked.

"I dunno, take a picture. You can tell your friends that Yankee Stadium turned into a national park." With that, he was off, climbing the stairs slowly. He stepped around pieces of debris and twisting metal. It was strange that Sonic didn't notice him.

"Hey, Blue Boy." The Human called.

Sonic didn't budge.

"Hey hedgehog! I'm talking to you!"

Still nothing.

"Olgilvie!"

"WHAT?" Sonic screamed.

"What's up?"

"How did you find me?"

"Dude, just because you're fast doesn't mean you're invisible. We must have gone through ten cities that heard you blow by."

Sonic growled. "I want to be alone."

"Sure you do. You led us on a two day chase all over the continent and cost us a bunch in jet fuel because of it. The point is, Sally wanted us to find you to talk."

"Talk? Talk about what? You know that I have been feeling like garbage these last few days? I've been wondering to myself, 'Sonic, you're not second best to yourself. You're not the hero anymore!' I mean first you show up, and now this..."

"Why do you hate me so much?" Chris asked. Sonic looked straight into the Human's eyes.

"That's not important. I just want to be left alone."

"Fine. I'm not arguing with you. What I do want to know is whether or not you're getting on that Pelican."

"Leave me alone." Sonic said.

"Fine. I travelled all the way across the damn continent just to turn around. You know, Sally's not going to be happy that you're not coming back. You know that she cares. She believes you're a hero whether _you_ believe it or not."

I don't know how, but that's all he needed to say for Sonic to jog up to him.

"You know, I hate it when you're persuasive."

"Thought you'd see it my way." He said. Both of them walked down to the diamond to meet the rest of the men. "You are enjoying yourselves, gentlemen?"

"Yup! I love standing around and get paid for it." A Marine said.

"You're not security officers! You'll get to kick ass yet. Let's move out, gentlemen! Mission Accomplished!"

[END MISSION RECORDING T + 00:50:31]

[SAVING MISSION LOG TRANSFERING... done]

[SHUTTING DOWN]

They're en route now. Hopefully when they get here I will have more time to see the _Infinity_. It'll be good to have Sonic back knowing that he's had time to do some real thinking. He's far more sensitive than people realize. One look and they assume they see a cocky Mobian with an ego larger than his brain but... he's special.

I realize now that no psychological sessions are needed with the Lieutenant. When it comes to these outbursts, I think they may actually be signs of Marine training. I know that intimidation is key when dealing with lower ranks.

I need to do a bit more reading and maybe watch a few movies, just to get more insight on when to tell the difference between insanity and pure testosterone.

:END ENTRY:


	47. Entry 47: November 24th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: November 24th, 3234<br>Entry Made 1723 h

Dear Journal,

Sonic came back today! I always knew he would calm down eventually… but I'm happy that he's back.

I was waiting all morning just watching the path up to the castle and even watching the sky. As soon as I got the call, I knew that I had to welcome him back. I know that it was a bit of an episode to Sonic, and I'm sure that he'll actually be thinking about things in a new light, but it's just been so odd to see his personality change in just one encounter and his confidence shatter like a house of cards.

I heard the sound of engines in the air. A dropship came over the trees at well over a few hundred miles an hour. The Human craft sped past the keep banking hard to burn off excess speed. I saw from the ID number on the fuselage that it was Lt. Vennettilli's dropship. How he got back here before Sonic was anybody's guess. I ran out to meet the dropship, which landed in one of the larger spaces near the entrance. The troop hatch opened and a group of Marines jumped out, looking around as if confused.

I knew why: They had beaten Sonic the Hedgehog in a race.

Vennettilli, who was wearing a streamlined set of sunglasses, threw his arms up in surprise. "Well I'll be damned. We won!"

The pilot Zeke took out a cigarette and lit it with a smile. "We should have! I was burning Mach 2 to get us here before the furry!"

"Mach 2? Cutting it kind of close, aren't we, Zeke?"

The pilot's eyes opened wide. "Wait, what? That thing can go _Mach 2_?"

"Faster if he has an espresso before that." Chris said with a roll of the eyes. He turned around and noticed me standing there. He walked up to me with a smile and a salute. "Your highness." He said.

"Our rescue attempt went well then?" I asked.

"Exceptionally! He was a bit stubborn at first, but I broke him."

"Yes, your report indicated as such!" I joked. Then I dropped the formalities. "Nice job, LT."

"Doing my job."

He dismissed the men and then walked with me back inside. I asked him why he had taken an extra day to return back to the castle. In truth, it was a strange thing that he told me he would be late with Sonic. The Lieutenant told me that he was conducting a quick survey of the city's integrity. Old Megaopolis was a technological anomaly. I'm sure that there were people that really wanted to know why the city is still there.

You know what I've noticed? I've noticed a clear LACK of ancient ruins on this planet. I've BEEN to the ruins that the Human's staying in. They're well over three thousand years old. However, I've never seen anything that would suggest that the Incas, Mayans, Romans, or even the guys who built Stonehenge were even around! I suppose the one major civilization I've seen in my life has to be the Egyptians, and even then, they had a number done on them! I suppose that the Xorda's initial attack 12,000 years ago may have destroyed small sites of Human civilization ancient or otherwise, and larger sites, like Old Megaopolis, were left standing. I think we could put some support behind a team to look for any surviving sites on Mobius…

However, I digress. The Lieutenant and I sat it out. We waited for Sonic in the main hall. The Human stared at some of the pictures of Acorns that existed previous to our generation. He scrutinized the oil painting of Alexander Acorn, the boy king who supposedly was Matthew Mobius' son. He looked at Alexander's wife, a fox with braided brown hair. She smiled proudly as she held her husband's hand.

"Am I the only one who thinks this is weird?" He asked.

"What's that?" I replied, not entirely sure what he was talking about at first.

"Here we have a squirrel, hand in hand with a fox. Doesn't that strike you as odd?"

"Odd? In what way?" I really didn't see where he was going with this.

"OK, I get it: they must have had a thing for each other, and then they got married."

"Are you implying that's odd?"

"No. Not really. There are cases when members of a species form a union with another where I come from." He shrugged. "Not the prettiest of pairs, but there's no issue with it. My question is… How do you take a squirrel, and a fox… and presumably make a squirrel?"

Ah. That's what he was talking about. The case of when two separate species came together and had a baby. I don't know, I really don't see a problem with it. They're quite common on Mobius, and we're not really sure how. He does know that Sonic and I love each other, right? I… never really thought about it until now, but I suppose that he does make an interesting point. How do you end up with a squirrel from a fox-squirrel marriage? Actually, I don't think I _want_ to know now. Oh God, I think that I'm having an epistemic moment.

So, in an effort to distract my thoughts and continue my story, Sonic ran through the door and stopped not seven feet in front of us.

"Hah! I made it… oh crap, you got here first!" He said, a bit annoyed.

"Ooh, that's the way I like it, baby!" Chris said with a smile. "Victory tastes like gold, with a slight twist of lime." He said, in a rather bad attempt to be funny.

Alright, I belly-giggled for a second.

"No more head-starts. Next time we race for real."

"Bullshit, that was a real race, and you're afraid to admit defeat!"

"How about we race on foot next time, buddy boy?"

"Sure, right when hell freezes over and Satan takes tap-dancing lessons."

Well, it was nice to see that Sonic's cockiness had returned in full force. I decided to step in before the insults got cheesier. "Gentlemen, that won't be necessary. Lieutenant, you've done a great job. Sonic, why don't we talk about this."

"Talk?" Sonic asked. "Well, alright. I guess we can do that."

I then remembered that the _Infinity_ would be in the system for the next week or so. He has GOT to go back to that pyramid when the ship leaves. He'd enjoy the experience. I just knew he would.

"Lieutenant, you know that the _Infinity_'s in orbit?"

The eyes nearly popped out of his head. "The _Infnity_? _THE Infinity_?"

"You know it?" I teased.

"Do I know it? Every little boy who was into space travel knows about the _Infinity_! Is she up there now?"

"Yup! I saw her!" I said to him. "We're going to go aboard tomorrow. Wanna tag along?"

"Uh… yeah! Hell yeah I do! Your highness, permission to be relieved of duty?"

"Granted, Human. Take the next shuttle up. Get a good look at her, and then get back down here. We need to discuss putting you back on guard duty for the Master Emerald."

He groaned, but stopped himself. "Yes, ma'am."

I had to remind him again that I was not one for formal titles. I guess he was excited. It was the first time I ever saw him truly excited for something. I bet he even had a model of the _Infinity_ in his room as a child. It was good to see a genuine smile on his face. Military training tends to quash the individual's personality and expression, but they didn't get this young man. He had some hope in him yet.

I need to work with him. I have to get him to realize that there is Humanity in him. I'll consider him a project.

Sonic and I discussed what he was feeling. He was upset by what the Other Sally said about him. He admitted to me that it was a bit of an overreaction and that he was acting immature. Wow, Sonic admitting immaturity. Maybe hell will freeze over after all.

Anyway, I'm going to go for a walk, and then I'm going to talk to somebody about sending a team, preferably Human Archaeology Majors out there to find ancient ruins. Who knows, maybe we might find surviving colonists over a thousand years later.

But seriously though, it is something I will pitch to Mom and Dad. Get their opinion on it. Ciao.

::END ENTRY::


	48. Entry 48: November 25th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: November 25th, 3234<br>Entry Made 1717 (5:17 PM)

Dear Journal,

I've decided to take a bit of a change from the past couple of days. It's been so stressful that I've been begging for an escape. Yesterday evening, I got that escape. I have been invited up to the _Indomitable_ to participate in an exercise of sorts. Now, at the time, I had no idea what they wanted me to do for them. It was after I came up in the shuttle that I realized that it was a test of sorts.

I arrived in the flight lounge to meet a gigantic Human who was six foot seven. He was made of chiseled muscle and had scars running up and down his body. The nametag on his shirt read 'Cooper'. Evidently this was the man who extended the invitation to me in the first place.

I introduced myself and he was all smiles. "Guess you got the message, huh?" I nodded, not quite sure what this guy was about. Turns out that Cooper, known as "Butcher" to his colleagues, was a member of something called the "Hostage Rescue Team", which is pronounced 'Heart'. I thought it was kind of cute at first, but then I saw that these guys were professionals. Every ship has trained HRT members who can rescue people be they military or civilian, and they really know how to do their jobs. Cooper's men had seventy one successful rescues without a single hostage lost. That's talent.

Granted, the Freedom Fighters are no slouches. We can rescue people from Robotnik's grasp, but let's get real, his robots are predictable, and they're cheap too. They only follow rudimentary combat training; they're not threatening – they're pushovers! The goons that the HRTs were used to were much much worse, and I was about to figure it out face to face.

Cooper had heard that the Mobians had fast times, and had challeneged me to run his course. He told me that he didn't expect me to beat their time. He boasted about how he was the best and something along those lines, whatever. I was ready to kick his butt to shut him up.

I had to admit, as I was suiting up, I had a bit of fear in my stomach. Up until this point, I had been shooting robots. These were unfeeling machines that I felt no remorse for destroying. What I would be shooting at would be living beings. Well not really. The room I would be in had multiple hologram projectors in the floors, walls and ceilings. Targets and hostiles would be generated and would look real, but wouldn't be. They would have realistic programming; they would act like real people but wouldn't be. The gun I would be using would be armed with what's known as 'digitals', which were blanks with transmitters in the cartridges. Every time I pull the trigger, a computer in the room's control center analyzes the signal and determines whether or not I hit the target,

So I slipped a helmet over my head and locked it in place, polarizing the visor. I looked no different than any other Human. Not even my tail was showing. A couple of HRTs led me to what they called the 'waiting room'. Ah hah hah. I get it: Waiting Room, HRT... Very funny.

One of Butcher's subordinates, a young lady named Adams leaned over and said, "Listen, I don't expect you to have a stellar run, but don't go in there expecting anything for certain. The structure is randomized every single time."

"Randomized?" I asked.

"Yeah. Everything is changed for every single HRT, so that way we can go into the field expecting anything they can throw at us. They're all roughly the same size, but the system compensates."

I thanked her for the tip.

"Stand by." She said. I turned and shouldered my rifle. She slapped my helmet (good luck I suppose), and tapped the timer. A loud buzz sounded, and I was out the door in a heartbeat. I quickly scanned the structure. It was two stories high with windows all over the place. There was ground access, so I headed that way. Suddenly, a squat little creature jumped out at me. It was an Unggoy (also known as a Grunt). The little bastard raised its energy weapon, and I squeezed off two shots fast. The alien puffed in a poof of logic. I was about to enter teh structure.

"_CHECK YOUR CORNERS, ACORN!_" a voice said from... somewhere. I was shocked enough to see a Brute rounding the corner. With a three round burst, I blew that hologram away. I entered the structure, not even aware that what I was standing on was really _hard light_ – but that's another story. I moved from room to room, checking my corners, like the Voice of God said, and was satisfied with the result. I moved up the stairs, taking care to prime a flashbang and throw it through the entrance. An explosion sounded and a blinding flash caught my corneas. The world seemed blurred. I remember cursing loudly, and saying something like, 'You Fool' or something.

Brushing it off, I stepped through the room, and blew away three Jackals that were caught by the explosion. I saw that in the next room, there were three Marines tied to a structure pole with cuts and bruises all over their faces. I ran with speed towards them.

"_SECURE YOUR ZONE!_" The voice commanded again.

I saw what he meant. I was knocked off my feet by an eight-foot tall Sangheili warrior. The alien roared and readied an energy sword. Five additional Unggoy were around him. I could have sworn that for a second, if only a second, I slipped into Conditioned Awareness. The gun was at my shoulder and I sprayed rounds with deadly accuracy. The flying brass looked like a metal rainbow. All of my targets vanished in a flash of data. "Area secured!" I called. I ran towards the Marines and untied them.

"Get us out of here." One of the holographic men said. "Save us."

I found myself saying, "I'll get you out of here. Hold tight, Marine."

A new objective streamed across my HUD, and I can remember it word for word: "Rendevous at RV Zone Alpha for Immediete Extraction."

I nodded. "Follow me!" I called, oblivious that they were holograms and not real people. We ran down the stairs and out the building towards a green flare. The minute we crossed it, the buzzer sounded again, and everything disappeared. I looked around and saw that I was in a totally empty room about a two hundred feet long and a hundred feet high. Amazing.

"_Run complete... holy shit._" The voice above sounded impressed. I wasn't sure what I did at that moment. When I walked inside the waiting room, I wore a smile.

"Piece of cake." I said. "No problem."

Butcher looked at me with a look that was freaked out and curious. "You didn't take a look at your time yet, did you?"

"No, why?" I asked, taking my helmet off and scratching my scalp. "I didn't get a penalty for the flashbang, did I?"

"Your Highness," Adams said, "The Platoon Record was close to 30.5 seconds, ship wide. You managed to complete the entre course in 25.4 seconds."

I looked at her, suddenly shocked. I had shattered a record and hadn't even noticed it. I laughed. "Wow. Imagine that."

"I don't think you understand." Cooper said. "We pushed ourselves to the limit to get those high scores. You don't look like you're even winded."

I shrugged. "I'm not." I smiled. "If you want results like mine, you might want to invest in Mobian HRTs."

You want to know the funny part? I just recieved a letter telling me that a thousand Mobians have been requested for the Hostage Recue Teams. I think we're going to get a lot more successful rescues.

Now, onto other issues: the Lieutenant was on the first shuttle out this morning. No more excuses, no more stalling; his ass is BACK in that pyramid to guard the Master Emerald. Sometimes I get the feeling that he will try anything and invoke any legal trickery to stay here on Mobius. Not surprising since he is a lawyer by education. Everybody laughs when I tell them that.

'_Who in the world ever heard of a Combat Lawyer? Objection through Heavy Artillery!_"

"_Sustained Fire!"_

_ "The bailiff has gone to battle!_"

Oh, he's going to kill me for this...

Knuckles needs some more company. I know that he's a lone warrior sort of guy, but I don't think he's adjusting to the change of location very well. A Mexican pyramid is very different from his home on Angel Island, not to mention all of the technology that we have implimented keeping that thing safe. Forecefields, armored defense turrets, and a WHOLE lot of tripwires. Anybody who tries to take that thing is going to be in a very, very bad situation.

I've considered going there for a couple of days just to see what those guys have been going through, but with all that has been going on nowadays, I don't think that it would be smart to abandon our posts just in case Robotnik decides to show up.

Oh yeah; I almost forgot: We've recieved intel from the Sangheili. They've determined that as of a week ago, Robotnik was deifinetely in the HOME SYSTEM of the Elites. That just astounds the hell out of me, the fact that this one man went up to the snout of the most powerful alien races around and just loitered around gaining intel. Just like that.

I'm waiting for the next report, but I'm not looking forward to it.

Until next time...

::END ENTRY::


	49. Entry 49: November 30th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: November 30th, 3234<br>Entry Made 0024 (12:24 AM)

Dear Journal,

Hey! It's Tails! I'm sorry, but I had to borrow Sally's journal for an important mission! I'm going aboard a Human survey ship called the _Ponce de Leon_. This is a special ship. True, it is owned by the military because it has 'UNSC' before the ship's name, but it is attached to the Frontier Corps. This group of individuals seek to explore vast areas of space, which are really, really big and unexplored. They hope to find new planets to settle and maybe even new alien civilizations that can be approached for communication, but something like that hasn't happened within the last forty years or so. But, it could still be fun!

So how did I get mixed up in this? I remember that Admiral Andsworth said that there would be people interested in my skills. I'm not too comfortable with all the Humans I've been meeting lately, especially all the ones in business suits, but a lot of them, like the doctors, I've been getting along with quite fine! The only thing that they did was assign me what they called a 'Handler'. I think a better word for it would be 'babysitter'. I'm 12 years old! I'm not a baby anymore! I can look after myself! The only thing I wish was different was the fact that Sonic wasn't coming. He's not too fond of space travel.

The handler was a guy who only said his name was Gill. He wasn't a very happy guy. I'm not sure why, but I think it may be because he's stuck guarding me. I see him sitting down with arms folded, and I tried to talk to him. He didn't say anything to me except for a few grunts and groans. What was up with him? I don't think he's a racist. He doesn't carry himself like one. I think he's just like this on a regular basis. We walked to our bunk on the _Leon_ where he just told me to go off and do whatever it was I usually do.

Well, I normally have fun following Sonic around, but since he isn't here, I guess I can explore the _Leon_, and learn more about it from the crew-mates. Wanna know what I found out?

The UNSC _Ponce de Leon_ is an _Explorer-_Class science vessel attached to the United Nations Space Command Frontier Corps (UNSCFC). The ship is 117 years old! Can you believe that! This ship is over a hundred years old! Well, the _Indomitable_ is close to 200 years old, but she kind of shows her age. The _Leon_ on the other hand looks like she's brand new! There are totally up to date holographic projectors, Hard light science labs, quantum spatial communication devices, and even a long range radio-visual telescope with a three meter aperture! That's larger than most telescopes on the ground! When moored (cut engines, no velocity), the telescope can take crystal clear images of things thousands of light years away, even planets!

There are scientists of many fields here, but more often than not, they are associated with stellar cartography and exoplanetary surveying. That's right, they're planet hunters, and I've been asked to attend a mission.

The thing is though, this is extremely secret. I can't tell anybody about this. In fact, the first chance I get, I'm going to transfer the data to another mobile source and then wipe it from Sally's system. I cannot, CANNOT let anybody else know about this. Our mission is to go into Mobian Space to explore what we think may be life on worlds in our solar system, and in a couple of closer ones. The process should take somewhere about two weeks or so to complete, so I'll be back before Christmas.

I'm actually bringing the journal along with me as I walk around the ship! I even ran into the Captain, and I have to say, I really wasn't expecting the man I met to be really... _happy_. His name was Captain Engelstad. I did a quick search on the name and figured out that he was Norwegian. He even had an accent! Norwegians have a very deep sailing tradition dating back to the Vikings. I'm sure that even though we were in a three-dimensional medium, he was at home at the helm of a ship.

The AI just popped up next to me! I jumped nearly a foot in the air. She apologized and introduced herself. She was named Erma, and her avatar sported a clean white lab coat with goggled on her head. In a strange way, she reminded me of Doctor Robotnik if he was a little bit... nicer, you know?

So, Captain Engelstad and I walked towards the Bridge, and Erma actually _followed_ us! That means that the Humans have an ability to create holographic projectors that allow AIs to move about the ship! Why? Actually, I'm not sure why. I mean, why would an AI walk around when they can't physically interact with organic material? I conjecture that science ships like the _Leon_ might just be working on new methods for interaction between ship and AI. Just for future references. You know what? Maybe they can use force fields to simulate the feeling of a solid surface, so that AIs can fully interact with the crew! You can't use hard light though. I don't know of any way to actually move a hard light object around freely.

I'll have to do some reading.

Captain Engelstad showed me around the Bridge. It was roughly in the shape of a hexagon, with the front end being made of a really thick glass or Plexiglas. Beyond, I could see the prow of the ship and the area where the telescope was housed. It was a really, REALLY big ship, easily five hundred meters long. It's no surprise that there are only 3 _Explorer_-Class vessels that have ever been built in the last 300 years, and only 2 have ever existed at one time, which includes the _Ponce de Leon_. I've tried to understand the ship's controlling mechanisms. The flight crew is all military, since the scientists are generally expected to perform experiments while the Navy controls where the ship goes and whatnot. I've expected it, and I really don't know how to make this thing go forward. I always assumed that it was as simple as giving an order, but you need to make sure that your request for power goes through, the vector has to be calculated down to the micrometer, and in some cases you actually need to STEER A 500-METER VESSEL. Can you imagine pulling something like a U-turn in this thing?

Hang on... the Captain just gave the order. We are to enter the Lunar Debris field in close to fifteen hours under an ONI escort. No questions asked. Once we are blocked by the bulk of the moon's mass, we will slip away towards the system edge, and our first stop:

Europa.

::END ENTRY::


	50. Entry 50: December 1st, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>(Temporarily Repurposed to Miles Prower)<br>Date: December 1, 3234  
>Entry Made 1030 (10:30 AM)<p>

Dear Journal,

I've become interested in an activity that is perpetuated by Human males. I woke up this morning and headed to the bathroom to wash my face and wake myself up. I found that Gill was already up, and was leaning towards the mirror. He seemed to be cutting his face with what I thought was a razor or something.

"Good morning." I said.

Gill jumped and gasped. He felt his throat, which started to leak blood. "Jesus, kid! Don't do that!" he grabbed a piece of paper towel and dabbed at the wound. "I could have sliced myself!"

"Did I bother you with something?" I asked him.

"No, you just caught me shaving." He winced. "Damn."

"Shaving? That's grooming, right?"

Gill then looked at me and gave a slight smile. "What, you've never seen somebody shave before?"

I just kept a straight face. "No. How does it work?"

Gill arced an eyebrow. "Alright. I'll humor you. Just put a bit of shaving cream on, take a quick swipe, and take the hair off. You've been around Humans before though. You've been hanging out with that dude from the one-eight-two for a couple months. You mean to tell me that he never shaved, once?"

I shrugged. "Never saw him, if he did at all. He always had a smooth face. I thought he was always like that."

"Well, hate to break it to you kid, but Humans always grow hair on the face. It's weird. I have to shave twice a day to keep things nice and clean." He stroked a part of his face to clean it up.

"Why do Humans like short hair?"

"You've been hanging around Marines too much." Gill chuckled. "Regulation states that we need to have short hair. Not sure why. It's been that way for hundreds of years. You'll see it out there in the real world, but people have really long hair too." He put down his razor. "I guess we find short hair cool; it makes us tougher. But as soon as we shave bald, now you turn into the stereotypical Space Marine."

"I don't understand." I told him.

"Never mind." Gill dismissed. "You mean Mobians don't shave?"

I started to open my mouth. "I… I don't know." In truth, I really didn't. I mean, we don't really have any need to. We're fine with the fur we have. It's not necessary to shave it down to the skin. Well, I suppose that someone may have tried it, but they may have ended up ugly.

I shouldn't be so quick to say that. You know, I hear that long, long ago, Humans had fur too! It was all over their bodies! I suppose they lost it somehow. I don't know why.

Does that mean that… millions of years down the road, we'll be hairless? Are we going to look like Humans?

I don't know. Maybe it will work out! I mean, Humans have something for incredibly smooth skin. I've seen products and advertisements that overflow the streets every time I go to Earth! It's outstanding!

You know, I'm curious. Gill's not here. I wonder if I could see that razor. I mean, I could stop right away. It's an entirely new concept for me, and I have to admit, there seems to be a certain… appeal with shorter hair.

[PAUSE ENTRY]

-

[RESUME ENTRY + 00:20:00]

Well, that was interesting. I certainly gathered 'data' from that.

I actually saw my chin for the first time today. So I have that going for me. Now I understand the phrase 'close shave'. I'm not doing that again for a little while, and OW, this hurts! I had to take pieces of bath tissue and stick them on the pinpricks of blood! Do Humans do this all the time?

[PAUSE ENTRY]

-

[RESUME ENTRY + 01:15:42]

We've approached Jupiter. This planet is known as the King of the Gods. Jupiter himself was the equivalent of Zeus in Roman Mythology. It's always beautiful to see something like this. As a man of science, I am drawn to cosmological aspects of the universe. This… this is the most basic of building blocks of the universe – Hydrogen and Helium in one location.

It's funny. If this planet were a bit bigger, it could have been another star. Wild huh? Two suns would have been neat, but would render Mobius uninhabitable.

The radiation around Jupiter is outstanding. If it weren't for the shielding on the _Ponce de Leon_, we would all be dead. But we're not interested in Jupiter, we're interested in Europa: the frozen moon. It's weird. I've never seen the moon in person, but from this distance, it's just bizarre. Red cracks in the ice stretch across the surface. This is an alien place with secrets.

It's been so long. Anything in orbit around Europa might be nearly emissionless. So the guys up here are going to actively scan the airspace around Europa. I'm going down to the surface with a group to analyze a section of the crust. We think there might be something there, but we're not sure if it's Echidna or Ancient Human.

Time to bundle up! I hear it's a bitter -171 degrees on the surface!

AND STOP LAUGHING AT ME! Gill's going to kill me when he finds my fur all over his razor. I think I should have thought that through.

::END ENTRY::


	51. Entry 51: December 2nd, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>(Temporarily Repurposed to Miles Prower)<br>Date: December 2nd, 3234  
>Entry Made 2207 (10:07 PM)<p>

Dear Journal,

It was an amazing feeling sitting in the co-pilot seat of the landing craft as we disengaged from the Ponce de Leon and free fell towards Europa's surface. There was no air to get in our way so the descent was smooth and uneventful. I saw the monster Jupiter dominating the sky in front of us. The massive red spot was raging, just as it had for millennia before this.

"It's beautiful." I had whispered.

The pilot smirked. "Easy there, kid. Wait till we land. I've been on Europa before. I don't imagine that ours is any different than yours."

The landing craft slowed gradually as it got closer to the icy surface. The sight I saw from orbit looked really weird when we came close to it. What I thought was a smooth surface was really a collection of mountains and valleys, and even craters that were formed of nothing but ice.

Nothing but ice. The entire surface was a wasteland of frozen water.  
>"You know, I once read an old science text that said Europa might have water underneath a thin ice crust." I told the pilot this, who only kept his eyes on the altimeter.<p>

"Fascinating. Just hold off for a second; we only have a couple thousand feet left."

My seat rumbled as the jets fired and slowed our descent further. The mountains grew around us, and soon, a final thud and a bounce.

"Welcome to Europa, boys and girls. Remember to put your mittens on!"

Before that point, I had no idea just how cold -171 degrees was. For me, anything below freezing was very bad for me. I don't like the cold, which is why I love living in Knothole where the sun shines plenty during the year.

The scientists on board the landing craft told me to suit up. The suit they gave me was smaller than theirs, as if it were made just for me. It resembled more of a radiation suit than it did a space suit. I learned that the surface was sprayed with deadly radiation. A normal Mobian can take about 500 rem before succumbing to radiation poisoning. According to our scan, the surface gets 540 rem from Jupiter. That's not exactly the most favorable of conditions, so I can completely comprehend why they would want us to protect ourselves.

There was much less gravity on Europa, which may suggest that there isn't as much rock as we assumed. That was fantastic news! This meant that there was a possibility of liquid water underneath the icy crust.

So there I was, standing in my suit, which kind of looked more like a mini diving suit that was made of a latexy-plasticy material. The pilot cycled the airlock open, and we stepped onto the ice. Europa: one of the moons to catch Mobians' attention when we got powerful enough telescopes. I always thought from the pictures that it would be smooth, but this moon was incredibly rough and deformed! Small mountains, hills, icy karsts and outcroppings flew all over the place for as far as the eye could see. And in the background, in the absolute silence, was Jupiter with his angry red eye staring at us as we tread upon his domain. I gulped and tried not to fog up my faceplate.

The leader of the expedition, Dr. Wei, asked me and the other scientists to follow him. I knew from the trip over that a couple of them were aliens, especially a Gallvente scientist named Gell Qek Moq Tea. He is a leading scientist in planetary geomorphology. I'm sure that he will be extremely useful here.

Anyway, Dr. Wei and the others walked away from the landing craft, which would serve as the base. We would be setting up a research station on flat ground, which (believe me when I say this) virtually next to impossible on this moon. All the jutting and the rising and falling made finding a chili dog in Sonic's fridge after lunch a bigger possibility. We found what we decided was flat enough ground and set up a scanner, which would send radar signatures all around the area, but I was quick to point out that the albedo effect would reflect a vast majority of the rays would be reflected into space.

Dr. Qek looked at me and said, "We know. What we're looking for is the exact opposite."

That made me cock an ear. "You're looking for something that will absorb radio waves?"

Dr. Wei added, "Or will reflect them at a lower intensity than the surrounding ice-fields."

"What would cause something like that?"

Another scientist named Richard Garrett said, "Just give us a second and we might be able to tell you."

So I decided to look around while they set up the scanner. I found a small piece of ice and kicked it around. It slid over the bumps and cracks in the ground, and eventually it plummeted into a crevice that I was pretty sure was about seventy feet deep. I'm pretty sure it was seventy feet deep, I wasn't leaning over the edge long enough to find out because... I think someone would have pushed me in. Yea, alright! I'm paranoid because I've seen all those movies where there's a killer that always hides among the crew. Call me crazy, but I can never shake the feeling.

The area that we touched down in was called a Chaos, and yes, at this point in time, I am actually very interested in the coincidence in naming. Specifically we landed in the Conamara Chaos, named after an island in Ireland on Earth (we never gave it a name for some reason. I'm sure if the Echidna really were here they would have had their own name for it).

I went back to Dr. Wei's crew. They were finished setting up the transmitter station. It was rotating and sending out radar waves to scour the area.

"So, what are we looking for?" I asked.

"We're analyzing the output of the radar scan to tell us whether or not there may be a structure."

"A structure? I was never told about this!" I said, incredulous.

"We weren't sure yet, Mr. Prower." Dr. Qek said. "We were going to inform you the minute something came through. Please, join us."

I went up to the transmitter and looked at the holographic readout. I thought everything was going well until I noticed a blip. Sorry, I mean an anomaly. There it was, seventy one kilometers southeast of us in what looked like a crater formation. The radio wave reflection was much weaker here than in any other area. I couldn't believe it. There was building on Europa over a thousand years old!

I was so blown away by it! I'm still blown away by it hours later! It's 10 o'clock! I should be asleep, but this confirmed what scholars have suggested for hundreds of years! The Echidna went to Saturn in early Mobian spacecraft!

[ID UKN] Miles, we've already discussed this.

Aw come on, Dr. Wei! Let me get excited about this!

[ID UKN] You know very well that this could be a blip of a crashed ship or perhaps a  
>meteor that didn't quite make it through the crust. We are to assume nothing until we get there and find out what it is for sure!<p>

Y... yes Doctor.

I've got to get some sleep. I have a long day ahead of me before we go to that st – I mean, that 'crashed meteor.'

Where did these guys get their degrees? In a Crackerjack box?

::END ENTRY::


	52. Entry 52: December 3rd, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>(Temporarily Repurposed to Miles Prower)<br>Date: December 3rd, 3234  
>Entry Made 1111 (11:11 AM)<br>Dear Journal,

::DATA STREAMING - REMOTE ACTIVATION::  
>::USER TRANSMITTING DATA... RECIEVING...::<p>

::BEGIN STREAM::

(W) Keep up, Prower! Make sure you don't slip on the ice!"

(M) Yes, Dr. Wei! I don't want to fall into the cracks!

(W) Just stay with rest of the group! Don't stray too far from the group. Gill, make sure that you watch him!

(G) Yes, sir. Come on kid. I know you want to look at every crack and snowball, but you're going to get lost, and we won't even know it.

(M) I'm NOT going to get lost!

(G) Funny, I heard a guy say the exact same thing before he got lost and we never saw him again. Turns out the fool fell into a sinkhole four hundred feet deep.

(M) I *won't* get lost.

(W) Can we get moving here? That anomaly is still waiting out there! We're kilometres away from a major archaeological dig, and we're talking about getting lost?

(G) No sir. I'm just telling Prower not to get lost, lest he meet an unfortunate end.

(W) Well stop it. I'm getting creeped out.

(G) As you wish, sir. (Egghead)

(W) What was that?

(G) Just a bit of static feedback. Probably bouncing off a radiation cloud.

(W)Hmm. Indeed.

(R) Dr. Wei, might I ask why we are approaching the anomaly on foot?

(W) Dr. Richard, the ice crust is unstable the closer we get to the anomaly. Most likely it's an air pocket that's underneath the crust caused by friction by Jupiter.

(R) Still, I thought it would have made more sense to bring in the landing craft.

(M) I think Dr. Wei is correct. The ice may be broken, and it's not that we're worried about. Trapped Oxygen will escape from, the pockets and pulverize whatever's on top. Think of it like getting hit by a  
>shotgun.<p>

(G) Since when do you know what getting hit by a shotgun looks and feels like?

(M) I've been on missions with my friends.

(G) A mission with your Freedom Fighter buddies doesn't compare to what we do.

(M) I was in the Battle of Carson Valley.

(G)Holy crap. You were in that mess?

(M) I was on the insertion team. I was one of the first to go into that Factory.

(G) Other parts of my unit were involved. Is it true that the guy you were trying to capture...

(M) Robotnik.

(G) Right... froze people? He turned them into statues?

(M) I don't like talking about this... No, not exactly. They aren't statues... they turned your men into robotic shells. They have no motion and have no free will.

(G) Hang on, I've heard of this before from another guy. Why are Humans so different? Why can furries move around?

(M) Mobians can move around because... they... you know what? I don't know. I just don't know why.

(W) Maybe if our department gets funding we can find out why!

(R) Quit your complaining Eugene. You're in geology, not transfiguration.

(W) Dr. Wei to _Ponce de Leon_: How are we looking up there?

(PDL)_ Keep on your heading for a while longer. You should be near the anomaly. Something's going nuts with our imaging scanners. They're going haywire whenever we try to get a hi-res scan of the area_.

(M) Very suspicious. Don't think many crashed meteors can do that.

(PDL) _You're on your own for visual confirmation, but you should be right on top of the target in as soon as fifteen minutes at your current pace_.

(W) Thanks, _Ponce_. Wei out.

(M) You know, I wonder why we didn't get a car or something like that to get here quicker? It's not easy to walk this way on foot.

(G) So what makes you think it's going to be easier if we got a rover? Look at the landscape, kid. Any car that tries to get over these jagged outcroppings is going to have much more than a scratched paintjob I can assure you. If we had a pressurized rover, we would be risking a hull breach. Walking is the safest way to get there.

(M) Why couldn't they drop us in?

(R) What, like those Helljumpers? We're scientists, not soldiers! Well, with the exception of this gentleman along with us.

[[Area surrounding group drops in altitude rapidly, ~700 feet in depth]]

(M) Oh Mobius!

(G) Oh WOW. What do you think could have done this?

(R) What do you think, Eugene? Tectonic movement?

(W) No, unlikely given the nature of the beast. We can assume that the ice above sits on an ocean layer. No tectonics would take place or affect the surface.

(R) Well what about one of those air lakes underneath the surface?

(M) No, doctor. The ice cracks are too smooth in the edges. If one of the ice lakes breached the surface, it would likely be in a sinkhole-like structure, and there would be jagged edges as ice chunks chip away at the sides of the ejection tunnel.

(W) Astute assessment, Mister Prower. But... I have absolutely no idea what this is then!

(M) Have you ever suggested that... somebody lowered the ice?

(W) What, you mean like dug the ice out? With tools? Mister Prower, we are scientists, not novelists!

[[Prower proceeds to face Dr. Wei down by looking at him dead in the eye. Prower only comes up to Wei's collar, despite being in a bulky pressure suit]]

(M) Not novelists? OK, here's a bit of knowledge for you: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective character Sherlock Holmes told John Watson that '_Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth_!' The phenomenon that we are witnessing here does not correspond to any natural theories about why a mass of ice appears to have been sunk nearly a thousand feet with polymer-smooth edges! Nothing corresponds to a natural solution, so with that evidence in check, we must concede that this is an artificial phenomenon!

(W) But... that's... that's not right... it... Ugh. Alright; it's clear that whatever we're dealing with here is beyond what we can deduce with our empirical methods. I am forced to accept that there may be some artificial influence here... but I _REFUSE_ to believe that the Echidna were here!

(Q) Dr. Wei, it's not professional to assume a belief on that magnitude. I for a fact believe you place precedence on locating sites of Forerunner occupation. Please set your bias aside and wait until we find suitable evidence.

(W) You're right Qek. Now... how do we get down here? Seven hundred feet is a long way, and even with the low gravity it's not a favorable drop.

(M) Maybe we should look for a staircase or an elevator? Since this area was probably formed by artificial means, one would assume that the creators would want to reach the entrance.

(G) I'm no scientist, but I think that's a certainty, kid.

(W) Wei to _Ponce de Leon_, can you spot any manner of descent for us to get to the bottom of the crater? Updating visuals!

[[Four second pause]]

(PDL) _We're a bit past your position, but we can scan the area now; thanks for the upload. Scanning... that's odd... there looks like... some sort of lift system built into the ice_!

(W) Say again, _Ponce_? Did you say a lift system?

(PDL) _Not sure... still can't get a good visual. Ground team, be advised that we will be passing over the effective radio transmission range soon. We have twenty five minutes of good COM status. We'll try to bounce signals off of the moons or the rings, but quality will drop_.

(W) Understood. Not a problem. Ground team out.

(Q) A lift system! Do you think the Echidna built it?

(M) If they did, did they build it for personal transport or cargo?

(R) No, I think it would be cargo. It would be simpler to put a structure on the surface otherwise...

(M) Or someone really likes their privacy.

(G) I wonder how you call the car then.

[[The Corporal leans over the edge, causing a panel to appear in thin air, startling Gill.]]

(G) JESUS! That scared me!

(W) I guess it keeps you on your toes then. Now, this is a lift panel. Looks holographic. Richard, your thoughts?

(R) Force feedback seems to be positive. We should just touch it.

(M) But... what symbol for down?

[[The men look amongst themselves, waiting for an answer]]

(Q) I... I am not sure, Mr. Prower. Perhaps we should look for an image or a pictogram representing descent.

(M) Look, here it is! This symbol points towards the ground like an arrow. That's got to be it.

(G) You mean like any other elevator? Kid, this is a thousand years old; who knows what that symbol actually does!

(M) We're scientists! We find out!

[[Prower taps the symbol. Everything seems calm, but then a coil of rings appears over the edge. The coils then open, which suggest that it might be a lift of some sort]]

(R) Well I'll be. It's an elevator after all.

(W) It's in perfect condition! The vacuum protected it from damage. Look at the aesthetics on this thing! Geometric patterns were carved into the metal. This has to be titanium or a very dense metal!

(R) Yeah, titanium, it looks like. Good lord, is that diamond?

(W) 24 karat lift system!

(Q) Doctors, I respectfully suggest that we get on before it disappears.

[[It's at this time the group discovers that there is no floor to the elevator. A series of suspended rings goes far into the ice shelf.

(G) Got to admit, it's not very tempting to step into a shaft with no floor.

(M) There's got to be a gravity system of some sort. I mean, who would build something like that and not intend for us to use it?

(W) Maybe it's broken.

(Q) I will test it.

(W) Qek, are you sure?

(Q) Positive. Someone has to take the initiative here.

[[The Gallvente steps into the shaft. For a split second, he is walking on thin air, but he rapidly slips away from sight.

(W) GELL!

(Q) _I'm all right Eugene! Mr. Prower was right. There's something holding my mass. I'm descending towards the ice shelf! How exciting! There's signal interference coming up, probably from the anomaly itself. I'm getting heavy static! By the Gods, this is magnific –_

(R) Gell, can you hear us?

[[White noise]]

(G) He must have dropped out of signal range. Either the ice is too thick to let the radio waves get out, or there's some sort of jamming device in that structure.

(M) You know, if you're right, who built it then? This was over a thousand years ago. The echidna came here in secret with a handful of Human scientists. Why would they set up a jamming signal?

(R) Probably because they knew someone would come along eventually. I'm going in. See you all in the lobby.

[[Doctor Garrett steps into the elevator and is dragged away.]]

(R)_ Signal looking good so far... man, what a view. Yup, I'm getting static. I can see Gell below me right now. How's your signal? Good. Mine's starting to screw u—_

(W) Well we at least know that they're all right. Who's next?

(M) I'll go.

(W) Very well.

(G) I guess I'll be staying up here until you're gone, Dr. Wei. I'll guard the perimeter.

(W) With what your bare hands?

(G) I'm a yellow belt in shu-chan-wo, Doc. I can handle myself.

(W) Right... _Shǎguā_*

[[Tails looks over the edge and feels a bit of apprehension. Suit monitors show that his blood pressure is above normal. He takes several deep breaths and steps into the shaft, feeling a pulling sensation in his stomach as he is drawn towards the ice shelf at a great speed]]

(M) WOO! WOW!

(G)_ You alright?_

(M) Yeah! This is awesome!

**[[SIGNAL DEGENERATING]]**

(M) I'm almost through the ice! Look at this detail! They carved life size statues into the ice!

**[[WARNING: EXTREME SIGNAL DEGENERATION. TERMINATION IMMINENT]]**

(M) I'm almost to the bottom! He Docs, how's the view down there?

**[[SIGNAL LOST. ATTEMPTING TO RESTORE SIGNAL... Failed]]**

::END ENTRY::


	53. Entry 53: December 3rd, 3234 Pt2

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>(Temporarily Repurposed to Miles Prower)<br>Date: December 3rd, 3234  
>Entry Made 1247 (12:47 PM)<p>

Dear Journal ,

:: USER UNAVAILABLE, ACESSING EMAIL ::  
>:: GOOD AFTERNOON MILES! YOU HAVE THREE (3) UNREAD MESSAGE(S) THAT HAS ARRIVED AT 12:47 PM EST! ::<p>

From: sallygirl  
>Sub: First Snowfall!<p>

_Hey Kid,_

_I know that you're not exactly here to see it, but the first snowfall came to Knothole! You should really see it! It's like Nova Kanada decided to unload all their snow here instead! Sonic misses you, as do we all. I don't know where they have you. Probably discovering the formula for immortality or something! _ __

_Sonic told me that the first thing he wants when you get back is a snowball fight, man to man! I think you can take him! That little noggin has some battle plans that you can use against him. I mean, you've had some practice in that area!_

_I also wanted to let you know that we don't know how long you'll be gone for, and I'm not sure whether you can tell us or not due to some utter crap NDA that they have you locked to. We may be called away on a mission that will involve ourselves leaving Mobius. You know how it is. Should you ever come back and find out that we're gone, don't panic. I know you're a big boy and can look after yourself (you're 13, I'm joking). Try to see Sonic's Uncle Chuck or even my parents. The Marine bunks aren't exactly the softest (what doesn't kill you warps your spine, amirite?)_

_Just to tell you that we're waiting for you!_

_Take care, kiddo!_

_-Aunt Sally  
><em>

:: SECOND MESSAGE ::

From: trueblue  
>Subject: Yo!<p>

_Little Bro!_

_You're out in space somewhere and I'm having trouble finding someone to rumble with out here in the snow! I know we usually have a snowball fight, and despite everything that's been going down this year, I want to continue that tradition! You, me, and a whole bunch of the white stuff. Mano I mano._

_Just let me get a head-start on building my base. I want one battlement before we start flinging snowballs. I promise this time, no running around your defenses! I wish you could tell me where you were, because I just want to know you're still OK and not becoming some sick Human experiment, or maybe you may have hit an asteroid, or been sucked into a black hole._

_Get back to me, k?_

_Take care,_

_-Sonic_

:: THIRD MESSAGE ::

From: ltvennett .gov  
>CC: trueblue , sallygirl , KNUX , rotornator , South_Belle , antoine_decoolette , Admiral_Andsworth .gov,<br>Subject: Get me out of this hole

_You read it right. I'm dying in here. I haven't seen the sun in three days… I'm turning into a recluse… plus, Knuckles snores at night that can wake the dead… on Pluto._

_Please, get me another assignment. I can't watch this rock forever. Nothing's happening. Really, nothing is!_

_Please?_

_Read: Admiral Andsworth_

_Sir, requesting a temporary reassignment. I have no real preference for duty, but I only have one proviso: someplace where civilization exists, and namely, not a Mexican Pyramid where the only company I have are the rats and Knuckles the Echidna… and I share more in common with the rats. For one thing, we're both bonkers about cheese._

_::END MESSAGE::  
><em>  
>:: ALL MESSAGES ACCOUNTED FOR! AWAITING USER INTERFACE! MOVING TO STANDBY ::<p>

::END ENTRY::


	54. Entry 54: December 4th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>(Temporarily Repurposed to Miles Prower)<br>Date: December 4th, 3234  
>Entry Made 2241 (10:41 PM)<p>

Dear Journal,

::INCOMING EMAIL, PRIORITY MESSAGE::

From: Gerome Andsworth  
>Sub: Engagements<br>Priority: BLACK

Your Highness,

I thought you should be the first to know next to your parents. We have recently received reports from the borders of UNSC-controlled space that Julian Kintobor has struck against our fleet. This is the first time that he has gone on the offensive since Carson Valley, which caught us by surprise. We assumed that for the past six months, Robotnik had been in a state of slow stagnation; basically crawling from one system to the next, engaging in hit and run guerrilla tactics to catch warships off-guard. However, in reviewing this report, I think it's safe to say that he has a bit of support this time around.

Get a load of this: Yesterday at roughly noon, the Third Patrol Flotilla was attacked by 'a large number of amphibian shaped spacecraft, along with several other ships that appeared to be of mixed design'. The survivor accounts tell of ships that appear to be of Human as well as Covenant make. This confirms what you saw earlier on Hyperia. Robotnik is using the Covenant to further his own cause... or are they using him? We aren't sure at this point. We know that the Remnant can be manipulative and use other races to get what they want - namely a way to activate the Halo rings even after all this time, but we think they might be going one step further with Robotnik. The best way to explain this might be that they will give him all that he requires, and then later eliminate him. Now, this may seem like the Covenant will be doing our job for us, but it won't be as rosy in the end. The Covenant are imitative, not innovative. They do not come up with new technology, rather they add to their own technology stores, kind of like the Borg (You did watch that TV show, right?). They must know that Robotnik is using the Chaos Emeralds to his advantage. They'll want to find other ones, mark my words.

But I digress. I was talking about the battle. The Third Flotilla was nearly annihilated. They were just a small band of patrol boats and frigates. Even if they had got a couple of shots off, they wouldn't be able to thin his numbers enough. The _Jackson Hale_ was destroyed within fifteen minutes of engagement and went down fighting until her core breached. No survivors. The second ship that went down was the _Shiva_, the frigate. Lasted twenty minutes. No survivors. The last two patrol vessels were the _Quinten_ and the _Maori_. Both recieved moderate damage but were still able to slip away from the fray. In all, about four hundred men lost their lives in that attack, all because we were not ready for it. In truth, we never saw this coming. We believe that the Human ships that Robotnik had with him were in fact hired mercenaries that would be used to diversify his troops. The Covenant vessels were almost certainly consisting of Kig-Yark mercs, as well as a single Jiralhanae CCS-class Cruiser. If we had a heavy cruiser in the area, we probably would have been able to save at least the _Shiva_, and the three hundred men and women aboard. It's a crying shame. It really is.

The worst part is we won't be able to reinforce that line for an additional eight days while the closest task force moves to replace the Third. By the time they get there, multiple robot ships could pass through that border. Princess, we could be getting hundreds of drone ships that could be equipped with heat sink cloaking devices, which would shield them from our sensors. That, quite frankly, is unacceptable in my book. We will do everything in our power and send the fastest ships that we can to Marigold, the system closest to that part of the border.

Lastly... we received sightings of a black hedgehog on Earth as well. Like I said, jet black quills, red trimming, and shoes that seemed to have some form of jet power. Now, I remember this character. His name was Shadow, correct? Your Highness, Shadow the hedgehog was declared a target as soon as he grabbed a hold of those Chaos Emeralds back on the Flying Factory. We're still working out the logistics and pinpointing where exactly he is, but I recommend you get your boots suited up just in case. We might need you to go out there on this one. Give me a call back as soon as you recieve this. We can meet then and discuss what in the heck is going on.

Stay safe, Highess.

Yours,

-Gerome Andsworth

:: NO USER PRESENT; FILING MESSAGE IN INBOX::

::SHUTTING DOWN!::

::End Entry::


	55. Entry 55: December 5th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>(Temporarily Repurposed to Miles Prower)<br>Date: December 5th, 3234  
>Entry Made 1540 (3:40 PM)<p>

Dear Journal,

I... I'm at a loss. I've been at a loss for close to seven hours. Wh... what did we just see? What did we just experience? This was something that I'm not sure I can properly put in words... but I'll try my hardest anyway: I think we may have... gone back in time.

Wait... that's not a literal description. We were still in this point in time... or were we... I don't know...

But anyway, I think it's best that I describe to you exactly what went on right from the beginning. I think it'll make the killer headache I have a bit duller.

So, you know how when we started this trip we found some things that didn't quite add up in our survey. The ice was too thin in some places, there were air pockets in others, and the mother of all unexplained phenomena: the presence of an Echidna structure on the planet. Note that I didn't say 'ruin'. I said 'structure', as in an intact structure. On Europa.

The fact that this still happened is taking a toll on my mind, but I'll try my hardest to put my thoughts on paper... in a manner of speaking.

It was... close to three days ago. I think it was three days ago. Doctor Wei and the scientists... Doctor Richard and Dr. Qek and myself entered this structure, and then our COMs cut out. There was no way to contact the _Poce de Leon_ or our landing craft. We were completely cut off and there was no way back up the lift. We were trapped in this ancient atrium. We kept our suits on even though our computers told us that there was sufficient atmosphere to actually breathe. I didn't trust it for a second. If our sensors couldn't find this structure unless we actually saw it, then maybe the oxygen levels could have been a trap to get intruders to kill themselves in a false sense of security.

There was absolute silence. Nobody spoke at all. We just crept down a hallway carved from ice, rock, and artificial metal. This was one old place. It was at that point in time that the thought occurred to me that this structure may have been here even before the Echidna left Mobius oh so long ago. It was possible that this entire structure was here when.. when... the Xorda eliminated all life on our homeworld twelve thousand years ago. Back when Mobius was also called Earth. I didn't explain it to the doctors. I don't think they would have understood that. Not many people could grasp the concept of parallel Earths.

We crossed a pressure door. Suddenly, we felt calm. A chill ran down my spine because of this sudden change of mood. It was if we were being pacified by something or someone. Suddenly, we felt safe. We felt it was alright to remove our suits. Dr. Richard was the first to do so... and suffered no adverse effects. As a matter of fact, he said that the air tasted like a mix of ice and strawberry. We all followed his lead and left our equipment stacked in a corner. There wasn't any other way to go but forward. The doors, which seemed to resemble something of an iris, expanded when we got close, bringing us into a command center (I think that's what it was). An alien-looking computer console was positioned in the center of the gigantic room. Along the floor, glass panes showed a shaft that expanded down into the depths of Europa's global ocean. I peered through such a hole and saw, with my own eyes, something that looked like a squid. It was a life form! On Europa! It had a body that resembled a fat spade, and eight tendrils that served to push it along in the warm water. All along its body were points of bio luminescent light that I assumed would help it see in the depths.

I announced my findings to the Doctors. Doctor Wei took one look and said something along the lines of "Well, look at that. There's something here after all".

This meant that there was no life on the Eurpoa that orbited the Humans' Jupiter. This creature was unique to our home plane of existence, and I felt giddy for a moment as I saw this. Then came another shock. It turned and came right next to me. It poked at the glass panes, as if it was curious about what was there. I tapped the glass and at once the strange Europan Squid withdrew in fear.

These poor things were totally oblivious to things such as light, space, a world beyond their own... all they would ever have was the lonely depths of Eurpoa's ocean. How depressing actually.

A series of beeps caught our attention. We broke our stare from the creatures out in this ocean and towards the ancient computer console. We approached with caution. There was no telling how old this actually was. It could have been placed there between one thousand to twelve thousand years. If it was the latter, it was INCREDIBLY well preserved for the location... and it was still computing data. We moved to inspect it, and then my heart skipped a beat. There was a chair next to the console, and in this chair was a body. It wasn't a skeleton, but an actual body, which had been naturally mummified by the cold atmosphere and lack of contamination for many centuries. I backed away out of reflex. draughts came rapidly as I couldn't stop looking at this dead scientist. He was a Human... but he had been here for so long. His skin was frozen and cracked, not to mention dehydrated from centuries of being dead, and his bony fingers gripped the table he was seated at so hard that there were marks in the metal. It was likely whatever killed this man left him in extreme pain before he died. His eyes were closed, which probably meant that he passed out.

I found myself in a sense of relief knowing that.

While I myself was not stepping close to the body, Doctor Qek and Richard inspected him, and after a bit of analyzing, not to mention actually picking out what I assume was his wallet and papers that his name was Edwin Shabbat. At the time of death, he was 39 years old and held the position of Chief Information Adjutant of this facility, which was called the Twilight Research Facility. The ID that we found on him said that he had been here since 2308, 925 years ago.

So long. This poor person had been here so long and lived the last days of his life in what we assumed was heavy pain. Someone like this deserved better. The manner of death was unknown though. We lacked the tools to perform it; we were here to do survey missions, not perform autopsies. In his pockets were pictures of friends and family. I have to say that I am thankful that the English language was established as a fixed language, allowing us to make out the identification, otherwise this would have been a lot more difficult*.

There was little else to do except leave Shabbat's body and find out more about the from the computer. We spent a few minutes getting into the system (four geniuses at work tends to shorten the work period a little bit!), and that's when we discovered the truth which left us baffled for an hour.

Twilight Research Station used the revolution of Jupiter around the sun as an alternate timekeeping solution in addition to the standard calendar. Since it was difficult to trace back to when the system was first activated, we looked to see just how many revolutions Jupiter made around the sun from when the system came online.

The logs showed that that the facility logged 1,040 revolutions of Jupiter around the sun. Doing a quick calculation, Jupiter's orbit time was 12 years. That meant that this facility had been here _12,480 years_.

Looking back, that still makes me wonder just what was going on. There had to be a mistake, so I spent another four hours looking through the system for anything that could back this up or serve to give me an answer that seemed more rational, but everything pointed back to this one number. Specifically the station had been here 12,480 years, 7 months, 21 days.

Now, as I'm sure you're probably thinking by now, 'that would mean that the facility was already here by the time the Twilight Facility was established'. According to the available data, that's exactly what happened. But, why? How? So, these men were actually part of the Lost Million who first came to Mobius via Doctor Mattew Mobius' failed experiment? OK, I can understand that, but why did they come to a facility that had been here since the native Humans walked the surface of Mobius oh so long ago.

What we saw next though, made the discovery of an ancient outpost seem like Make Believe,

And I will tell it to you in the morning, because I'm dead tired on my feet, and frankly, I just need a few hours to try and process what just transpired. I'm sorry, but this is not going to happen in one go. Good night.

::END ENTRY::

-  
><strong>*See my short paper 'English in the 33rd Century for more information about this<strong>


	56. Entry 56: December 6th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>(Temporarily Repurposed by Miles Prower)<br>Date: December 6th, 3234  
>Entry Made 0700<p>

Dear Journal,

The landing craft just lifted off from the surface of Europa. I'm glad we won't be going back there again. That place... I think it may have had lasting impressions on me. A few days ago, I was overly excited to see just what ancient civilization may have left behind for us to study, but now I just feel... creeped out.

Where was I? Oh yes:

We were within the control room of the Twilight Station. The chill of the room was only now starting to set in as we closely inspected the computer console. The workings were ancient, as we expected. It looked difficult, but within half an hour of studying it, we were able to get inside. The menu appeared as a hologram in front of us, but it was sloppy, even by Mobian standards compared to the UNSC. It was basic motion control mixed with IR sensors, giving a bit of freedom and illusion.

I was scanning the data archives... when I discovered the final archives of the facility. The first file was marked June 1st, 2311. Glazing over it, I discovered that everything was starting off fine. The Twilight Facility was originally founded as a place to observe the Echidna, which were growing at a much more rapid rate than any of our other ancestors. They had mutated the ability to speak only a few months after the original genetic swap. This gave the Terra Nova (It wasn't called Mobius yet) scientists a chance to investigate just why this was happening. In truth, the discovery of this ancient station was a total fluke. They just happened to be in Jupiter's planetary system and just happened to see parts of it spreading across Europa's surface. Wow.

The facility originally housed around 1,000 Echidna, and something of a society developed. According to floor plans, this station was dozens of square miles in size with compartments easily large enough to hold about four thousand people. The Echidna grew, and adapted much like we did, and learned to act as their caretakers. In a sense, they were the most Human of any Mobians that ever existed.

Then... things got bad. I mean really bad.

On February 12th, 2320, something was sweeping through the facility. It was a disease or an epidemic. Nobody was sure what the cause was, but the Echidna were immediately ruled out as a cause, through some means that I am not aware of. The disease had symptoms that resulted in a degradation of cellular material, most particularly the dissipation or weakening of the endoplasmic reticulum. This left cells open to attack, and most of the time, they died almost instantly. This was a slow death, and I'm thinking that most definitely it killed Dr. Shabbat. The station geneticists came up with a name for it: Darwin's Plague.

The details are sketchy, but the kicker was that the disease only affected Human cellular tissue. I made the link right away that this was the result of a dormant Xorda superweapon orbiting Mobius or existing in cloud form somewhere in the solar system, waiting for Humans to pass through it - presumably if any redeveloped space travel.

Month after month, the cases started to grow, and then I saw reports of deaths. It was scary. I won't repeat the details to you because I'm trying to forget... oh Mobius I'm trying to forget... Oh God...!

It was Dr. Wei who broke the silence. He commented on how it must have been Darwin's Plague that resulted in the Lost Million being exterminated over four hundred years later.

"But how is that possible? This station was secluded. There was no way it should have worked." Qek said.

"It's actually possible..." Dr. Richard said gravely, "...that somebody ran."

Next was... you have to listen for yourself. We didn't have COMs, but we still had audio recorders. Listen.

"Who enters or home?"

(Wei) "What was that?"

"You trespass, Mortals."

(Tails) "It's coming from the computer!"

"Computer. That was what this machine was one called, when we were separate from it. Now, it is our body, our mind, and our heart."

(Wei) "What are you?"

"We are One. That is what you will recognize us as."

(Qek) "'One'? You don't sound like one person."

"We are LEGION, for we are MANY."

(Garrett) "You... you're not one person at all. You're a THOUSAND people."

"WE ARE ONE, AND ONE IS WHAT WE ARE."

(Tails) "The Echidna subjects. That is who you are."

"The voice of one knows another. We were many, but we were one."

(Wei) "I don't know how this is possible. If I'm right, we're talking to a hive-mind or something."

(Tails) "It makes sense! The Echidna were increasing their intelligence at an exponential rate. They must have devised a way to plug themselves into a computer!"

(Garrett) "It's a transhuman nightmare."

"YOU WILL BOW TO OUR GRACE, FOR WE ARE IMMORTAL; BEYOND YOUR MORTAL COMPREHENSION."

(Qek) "They've been alone for almost one thousand years. They were many, but became one. They must have gone insane in isolation."

(Tails) "Why did you do this?"

"... It was LOGICAL. We became One to avoid the veil of Oblivion."

(Garrett) "Death."

"Yes. That word is acceptable. Death."

(To hear over a thousand voices speak that one word. It just made me shudder)

(Tails) "You knew you had no way out, so you linked consciousnesses.

"Yes, the one knows the other. We knew our time was short, so We became One. We defeated Death in a single action."

(Qek) "At the cost of your own sanity! You didn't think your decision through!"

"There was heavy deliberation as to whether becoming One would be logical. We did not make the choice lightly, but We became One, and became a God. We know all, and see all. We bask in the knowledge of the Ancients. We know their secrets! We know how the lived, and how they died, and what became of them!"

(Tails) "You know what happened to the Ancients? There were survivors?"

"There is more than one star in the sky. We know, and we know that there are... uncertainties."

(Garrett) "Coming from a collection of a thousand genius-level minds, that leaves a LOT open to interpretation."

"But you invade our home. We are not pleased with this. You must LEAVE!"

(Tails) "Wait! We need to know more about Darwin's Plague! Is there any danger to the Humans who accompany me?"

"The plague? The deathbringer; the horsemen of suffering and destruction! What of it?"

(Tails) "Will it affect my friends?"

(Silence)

"No. The Genetic makeup of the these others will not be harmed. The deathbringer has since died down itself, after so long, it lost its power."

(Qek) "Yeah, cellular breakdown. No chemical weapon will last forever before it's rendered inert. I suppose that once the trap was sprung, it was useless."

"Leave Us."

(Wei) "Listen here, One. We came all this way and we won't just take off because you don't like us!"

"Leave. Us."

(Tails) "But... why?"

(Silence)

"We do not wish to discuss such things."

(Tails) "After a thousand years, the only thing you want is to push away the first real conversation you've had?"

(Silence)

"There is a lift at the far end of this hallway. You will enter, and We will show you why We wish to be left alone."

(So we did as we were told. We went into an elevator which brought us lower into the facility. Even though we left the main chamber, the voice of a thousand ancient Echidna followed us.)

"It has been so long, and We only hear whispers from the land that birthed us. Our creators have long since died, and We know we can never return if We wanted to."

"We are One."

(The door opened, and my mouth dropped in shock. Cylinders lined the walls of a massive room. There were hundreds of them piled to the ceiling with wires and tethers moving from one to a pulsing pillar in the center of the room. I moved like I was in a dream, and within one of these pods, I saw a withered body of an Echidna. It was skin and bones, kept alive by nothing but electrical impulses delivered to the brain and heart. Its arms and legs were tethered to stop seizures from hurting the body. The eyes moved around rapidly, as if in some sort of dream. Then it looked right at me and spoke with a thousand voices)

"You see Us. We are changed. We are One. We cannot go back."

(Tails) "If you disconnected yourselves, you would die!"

"We would die. Look next to this one."

(I moved, and saw a nearly perfect-looking woman with stunning blond hair and blue eyes.)

"She is older than We. She is not One, nor can she be One. She is... isolated.

(Tails) "She... she was here when the Xorda attacked Mobius? 12,000 years ago?"

"Yes. She was here when We saved ourselves from Death, but We cannot reach her. Her mind is separated, as are the others."

(Wei) "This place... if I'm understanding this properly, this was a shelter of some sort.

"We are imperfect. We wish to be young and able to speak as Many. Being as One keeps us alive... but never to act as many ever again."

(There had to be hundreds of Humans that were here. They must have all been here when the Xorda attacked our Earth. They must have been on the station, and were placed in some sort of suspension, or were connected to this thing to keep them alive. It worked, as they were all perfectly preserved, and better: apparently alive.

Then, something went wrong. Sometimes scientific curiosity can land you in heaps of trouble. I will explain more about that in the final entry relating to this subject.)

::END ENTRY::


	57. Entry 57: December 7th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>(Temporarily Repurposed to Miles Prower)<br>Date: December 7th, 3234  
>Entry Made : 1415 (2:15 PM)<p>

Dear Journal,

We're hooked up to the Ponce de Leon right now and headed out of the system (I'll explain more on that later), but I need to get this off my chest. I need to do this and then I'll be fine. Here's the extension of that audio file that I was using. This is where it became a lot scarier.

[PLAY]

(Tails) "Dr. Wei, I don't think we should be touching those survivors!"

(Wei) "We're right there, Prower! We're looking at a person who has been in suspended animation for over 12,000 years! Just... look at her! She's in magnificent shape! She's perfect! She doesn't look a day over 25!"

(Tails) "But we can't touch her! We don't know how One will react!"

(Wei) "Can I speak with you, Prower?"

(I walked with Dr. Wei into the hallway leading into the Hive room. Dr. Wei paced and put a hand to his jaw and breathed deeply)

(Wei) "What we have in front of us is nothing short of a scientific miracle. The woman in there has been in suspended animation longer than anything that has ever been achieved. Scientists have not had any chance of seeing a subject frozen for as long as she has been. There is literally no subject to study. The people in there... these ancient Humans worked a wonder out. If we could gain some of that knowledge, we could unlock medical techniques that have never before existed! Perhaps even immortality!"

(Tails) "I know, Doctor, but we just can't. We can't risk... doing something we're not supposed to."

(I turned and walked away from Dr. Wei towards Dr. Garrett and Dr. Qek. The latter had one pair of arms crossed and another rubbing his chin)

(Qek) "Tails, One has asked a peculiar question that we think you would be able to answer."

"We wish to know the fate of the Others."

(Tails) "What others?"

"We remember that long ago, We were not One and were known as Echidna. The whispers from our home are known to Us. Do Others still exist, or are We alone?"

(Tails) "No. You are not alone. The Echidna still exist on Mobius and have become incredibly advanced. They have a floating island in the sky and computers that far surpass our own. They may even have started exploring space again."

"This pleases Us. The rebirth of the Echidna will be Our saving grace. We will all become One in the end."

(Garrett) "Well, what if the other Echidna don't want to be One?"

"... That is illogical. Why would they not be One?"

(Garrett) "To be honest, I don't know if spending an eternity trapped in a giant computer in exchange for immortality to be 'logical'.

"But all will be One. It is illogical not to be One! It is ILLOGICAL! NO!"

(A thousand voices screamed out. We turned in shock to see Dr. Wei attempting to access the pod of the ancient woman. One screamed, and at once, the computer monitoring the ancient woman began to malfunction)

(Qek) "What's going on?"

(Wei) "I was just checking her vitals! Something happened!"

(Garrett) "For God's sake, Eugene! You just couldn't help yourself, could you?"

(Tails) "She's dying!"

(Wei) "Oh no, no, no, NO!"

(The woman convulsed in her pod. Her eyes rolled into her head, and the computer showed she was going into cardiac arrest)

"YOU HAVE VIOLATED OUR HOME! YOU HAVE COME TO STEAL! WE SHALL STOP YOU!"

(Shimmers in the air appeared, and within seconds, man-sized robots with glowing white eyes marched towards us quickly)

(Qek) "RUN! RUN! Back to the lobby!"

"We will not tolerate the unworthy who seek Our knowledge! You must be punished for this!"

(We scrambled towards the hallway door which suddenly closed, trapping us within the Hive room. I started to become frightened as the robotic vanguards advanced towards me with energy discharging in electricity from their outstretched hands)

(Garrett) "UNLOCK THE DOOR!"

(Wei) "I'm a scientist, not a computer expert!"

(Tails) "Let me do it!"

(I ran to the door's control panel and looked through the commands, looking for something that would allow us to go forward. I tried searching for an access code and manually activate it. I found one, and not a moment too soon. the door's iris opened and we ran through with the guardian robots starting to pick up speed)

"We are everywhere. You cannot escape Us! We will strike you down and keep you within Our home for all eternity!"

(Garrett) "That doesn't sound favorable in my opinion!"

(Wei) "Less talk, more run!"

(We ran back to the lift that took us to the control center. At once, Dr. Wei ran to the computer and started looking through options.)

(Qek) "What are you doing?"

(Wei) "Unplugging this abomination"

(Tails) "Are you insane? That will kill them all!"

(Wei) "Oh yeah? The way I see it, there isn't much time; this thing wants to keep us here forever. I'm not going to let that happen!"

(Tails) "But the people!"

(Qek) "Yes Eugene! What about the survivors?"

(Wei) "They're as good as dead being in here with that thing. Ah! Here we go! Timed core detonation, just in case of emergency! This will shut down the whole facility!"

(Garrett) "Alright then, won't you need a password? I imagine that anybody who made such an extreme program would need someone's permission!"

(Wei) "That's a good point, Richard! How about...

(He swiped the ID tag off of Dr. Shabbat's body)

(Wei) "The Chief Data Adjutant's card?"

(Qek) "You really are insane."

(Wei) "You'll thank me later!"

"NO! WE WILL NOT ALLOW THIS!"

(Wei) "Try to stop me! Aha! 20 minute head-start! Now to think of a lock-in password!"

(He thought for a split second and ran his fingers over the keyboard)

(Wei) "We're good! Let's get out of here!"

(I was almost half tempted to stay, just so I wouldn't be near that madman, but the sight of the approaching vanguards got me running. I was a follower of science, not an idiot. We ran to the lift we came up. Thankfully, it still worked. We jumped into our suits and ran (badly, I might add) to the pad we landed at. One by one, we jumped into the energy field and shot into the shaft. We moved at a dizzying speed, and as we ascended, I heard a scream of anger and remorse behind us. We had just doomed more than a thousand souls to death... if not something worse)

"You take with you stolen property mortal! It was Ours! Ours to keep! You have doomed us to an eternity of confinement! We will not hear the whispers from home anymore, BUT WE. WILL. _**STILL. BE. ONE**_!"

(We shot from the top of the shaft and hit the ground running, once again in the jagged and silent landscape of Europa. There was a rumble in the ground as the main core detonated. I nearly lost my footing, but something told me that I should keep running. Air pockets exploded outwards, sending huge chunks of ice and trapped air into the sky. I heard my heart pumping in my ears. Gill was waiting for us at the top. He was shocked with what was happening, but we were at a loss for words)

(Wei) "WE NEED A PICKUP! NOW!"

(Pilot) "What happened over there?"

(Wei) "Pickup! PICKUP!"

(The landing craft came up over the ice mountains. It approached us silently and opened its cargo bay. All of us jumped in and as soon as we were all in, Dr. Wei shouted for the pilot to take off. We rose into the sky just in time to see whole areas of ice blow into space. Mountains collapsed and disappeared in ice, air, and mist. It was only after we closed the bay door and found acceleration seats, only then did I realize just what we did)

(Tails) "I can't belive it. Those people are trapped!"

(Wei) "Maybe, but we walked away from that with more data than I thought we would."

(Dr. Wei took off his helmet and kissed a data module)

(Garrett) "You're an idiot, Eugene. The scientific pursuit just doomed those people down there. They're going to be in limbo! Do you get it? It's a worse fate than death!"

(Qek) "I... I need to go to my room. This is just too much for me. I need to meditate on the face of that woman... that you killed, Eugene."

(Qek got up and walked away, not once looking back. Gill just looked around wondering just what was going on)

(Gill) "What did I miss?"

(Tails) "I... don't want to talk about it"

[End Recording]

-

So, that's it. That's all we've been experiencing. I feel guilt and sadness over Dr. Wei's actions. I know all he wanted to do was to learn more that could save people, but his actions doomed thousands to an eternity of undeath. I hypothesize that they would still be able to think as a hive mind, but would not be able to feel any more beyond their facility. I would assume there was a backup generator. But... think of it like being tied to a chair in a pitch black room. No way to move, and no way to perceive your environment. There would be nothing but a thousand scared voices.

That's unimaginable.

I would say that I hate Dr. Wei. I would say that he is the worst Human being that I have ever met, but I don't think I can. I don't think I could bring myself to hate someone. I don't know if I'm capable of it, or if just don't want to. I always want to believe that everybody has a good side of I can rationalize their actions, but this is coming pretty close to an exception. I know that some people on Mobius would expect me to say that 'Humans are Cruel and Unfeeling Creatures', but no. This was not an action of Humanity, but of one man who placed knowledge above respecting the wishes of other. I hope that one day, Dr. Wei can realize the consequences of what he's done, and I know that he will recover from it. I hope the knowledge he acquired was worth it.

I really hope so.

We're on our way out of the system. We're going to be looking for life out there. That's right, you heard me right: we're going to be hunting aliens. I guess that alone is enough to raise my hopes! I'm getting a bit excited already.

But what I've just experienced... I need to forget it, but ONI will need the data that we received. I wish that I could just stop it here, but you know what they say: You can't always get what you want.

[[DOWNLOAD DATA DEC 3-7 TO CONNECTED DEVICE... DONE]]

[[DELETE ENTRIES FROM DEC 3-7, 3234...]]

[[DATA DELETED]]

::END ENTRY::


	58. Entry 58: December 10th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn

(Temporarily Repurposed to Miles Prower)

Date: December 10, 3234

Entry Made 1134 (11:34 AM)

Dear Journal,

A quick rest was all I needed. Now the thoughts of the ancient Echidna base are far behind me. Some events may be traumatic for me, but when the need arises, I can push them back into my mind and focuses on what needs to be done. This wouldn't be without consequences. When I was 8, I told that to my psychiatrist, Dr. Rawr. She brought up the possibility that if I continuously pushed back events that made me sad, I might eventually have something... that might, uh... might equate to a relapse or something like that. She said... let me remember... that the feelings will return en masse.

What she said made sense, but I don't think it has very much merit. It's been close to five years since that session. I know that the last six months have given me... new insights, but I think I've seen the last of them.

Let me bring you up to speed on where we are today. Since my last entry a few days ago, we've been tasked to move to Alpha Centauri, the closest star to Mobius' sun. This is a two-pronged mission. The UNSC Astronomical Department first and foremost wants to analyze just how different our universe is from Earth's. That's the reason that the _Ponce de Leon_ is out here in the first place. Secondly, and this one is my favorite, we've been tasked by _our_ government to try and find life, or rather, the signs of life.

Almost twenty years ago, we defeated the Overlanders in the Great War, along with help from Robotnik. He developed weapons that we used against the Overlanders, and then he turned them on us. Before the coup, we struck victory after victory, eventually forcing the survivors, led by Operations Colonel Colin Kintobor to flee Mobius with what was left of the original colonial fleet that arrive at Mobius over a thousand years ago. They left, and we hadn't seen any Overlanders since. The government wants us to scan the closest planets and see just what happened to the survivors... that is, if there are any.

The problem with this is that we don't know if the planets that are habitable in Earth's universe are habitable here. The only way to see for sure is if we actually go there, which is why we have been slipping for the past day or so. _Ponce_ is a science vessel, so the Slipspace drive mounted here is not military quality, so she would be slower than most warships.

We've been in-system for two days just surveying everything, and so far, the crew is liking what they see. Everything from the stars' stellar classes, the asteroid belt, and even the outer gas giant is the same. Nothing is different, so we decided to look at our target planet. The only planet that had life originally was Alpha Centauri II, along with it's moon, Ceta Centauri, a water-moon. So, the _PDL_ turned around and just looked at the sun. Her instruments, based on Forerunner technology, could actually find a planet based on it's fluctuations in spacetime as it traveled around it's parent star, in this case, Proxima Centauri. The results were not very surprising to the crew. They determined that the planet was at the exact same distance from Proxima Centauri here as it was in the Earthverse.

So, we decided to get closer. The engines were able to get us there in four hours on maximum drive. This was a science vessel by the way, not a military ship. Bear with me.

It was just as blue as I saw in the pictures. Alpha Centauri II was identical. Down to the stratus clouds and the snow capped mountains. It seemed like at least in this star system, our universes were almost identical.

The bridge crew immediately started scanning. Here's what I recorded:

[[PLAY]]

SCAN1: Optical scans show only minor deviations in the planet's geography structure.

AI: We can account for that by factoring in 12,000 years of change.

SCAN1: Copy. The ice seems to have crawled further up from the poles.

SCAN2: Sir, it's possible that we're looking at the beginning of another ice age.

CO: That's supposition for the moment. We don't know if we're in an interglacial period or not. We are not to make assumptions until we have more information.

SCAN2: Aye, sir.

SCAN1: Captain, should we start scanning for types of organisms?

CO: Reposition ourselves around the equatorial band. Cheyenne, where's the densest forest on the planet?

AI: That would be Rougefelt continent, Shi Cho region.

NAV1: Copy. Engines answering. We're moving along the horizon.

NAV2: ETA to position, fifteen minutes, half engines.

CO: Excellent, gentlemen. Looks like we're about to end up in the history books! 

TAILS: Captain, may I ask a question?

CO: Speak up, son.

TAILS: If we deem that this planet is suitable for life, is it possible that we can set up a colony here?

CO: Hmm... Good question. Cheyenne, what do you think, based on Alliance politics?

AI: Alliance Colonization Charter Statute 224-343-A: _In the event that an Alliance race encounters a planet that contains an environment within the means for the race to survive in, they may indeed colonize, but they must first submit a formal request to the Alliance Council, which includes the UN. Estimated time for decision is currently 2.5 years_.

TAILS: Two and a half years?

CO: Well son, deciding to allocate funds for a colony is not an easy thing to do. These things cost money. You know anything about money?

TAILS: Not really...

CO: Well, you're only, what, 12? 13? I think to understand exactly why these things need deliberation, you'll need to be a bit older.

AI: That is not to say that the Mobians' request, should there be one, wouldn't be rejected. We just need to allocate resources, start a colonist recruitment plan, construct buildings, FTL COM relays, farming equipment, it goes on, really.

[[NOTE TO SELF: Pick up a book on starting up a new planetary colony and read cover to cover.]]

SCAN1: Captain, I think we have something on the computers.

CO: Talk to me, Ensign.

SCAN1: Reading repository patterns. It's a good level of CO2 mixed in with the local oxygen.

CO: Life-forms?

SCAN2: If there are, it's awfully large, and they're concentrated around a single location near the terminator. I'll bring it up.

[[Screen comes up, reveals the nighttime side of the planet. On the ground, a series of lights]]

CO: People!

NAV1: Sir! Debris incoming!

(IMPACT)

AI: Collision alert! An object roughly five feet in length just hit us about thirty meters aft. Put a fair dent in the hull. No breaches yet, but I'm alerting the scientists and crew!

CO: What the hell was that?

(IMPACT)

AI: We were struck again! This time a smaller object near our engines. We have a slight tumble. Adjusting.

NAV2: Looks like a debris field of some sort.

NAV1: Yeah, but what is it? Asteroids?

SCAN2: Negative. If I'm reading this right, those were metal plates and components!

SCAN1: From what? We didn't launch any probes, and the scientists say that Humans never made it this far out here!

CO: So... what the hell was it?

TAILS: I think I have a good idea. But it's a theory.

CO: As good as we have right now.

TAILS: 20 years ago, the Great War hit Mobius with our kind being decimated by the Overlanders. We won the war, and forced the Overlanders to withdraw into space. They took ships that carried our ancestors to Mobius almost a thousand years ago to leave for the stars.

SCAN1: So, we've found some lost colony that's been out here for 20 years?

TAILS: It certainly seems that way. If we're being hit by metal plates, that suggests...

AI:... that the Overlanders deconstructed the colony ships in orbit and used them for building settlements.

TAILS: Exactly.

NAV2: Sir! Up ahead. Radar has something!

[[Camera zooms in on half a ship]]

SCAN2: I'm reading this as the _Enterprise..._ Sir. This ship was reported missing in 2290. Along with nine others...

CO: Well, it looks like we found them. Can you get us closer?

NAV2: I can put us right next to it.

[[I can barely contain my excitement as we slowly pull up to what was left of the _Enterprise_. There was so much history in these ships that it nearly overwhelmed me]]

AI: Magnificent.

CO: 944 years ago, and our forefathers already knew how to get to the stars.

AI: They were not so different, Captain.

CO: Well, Matthew Mobius found the salvation he was looking for. I just don't think he was expecting this. He got them to Alpha Centauri in the end.

TAILS: Hmm?

AI: Alpha Centauri was his original target... before the accident.

TAILS: I'm sure he would have been proud.

SCAN2: Wait, did you catch that?

SCAN1: Yeah, I saw it.

CO: What's going on?

SCAN2: I could have sworn I saw welding torches.

AI: I saw it as well. Captain, should we go and introduce ourselves? 

CO: Seems only fair. Prower: How do you feel about spacewalking?

TAILS: I suppose impartial. After my experience on Europa, I don't think there would be a problem.

CO: Good, because you, Corporal Gilliam and his team are going over there to find out more about the Overlanders. They're here, and if what you say is true, Prower, we're going to see if they're holding a grudge.

::END ENTRY::


	59. Entry 59: December 11th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>(Temporarily Repurposed to Miles Prower)<br>Date: Dec 11, 3234  
>Entry Made 1234 (12:34 PM)<p>

Dear Journal,

I've just had a good ten hours sleep so I can finally continue my tale. That way, I can properly explain to you where I am now. Let me continue with where we were the other day when I was aboard the _Ponce de Leon_.

The Captain had ordered the ship to close in on the old derelict. We could have sworn that we saw people working on the ships, no doubt doing their part in tearing the colony vessels apart to help build the new Overlander civilization. You know, I'm filled with mixed feelings. True, I wasn't eve born when the Great War erupted on Mobius, but I'm a little scared about actually meeting these guys. My parents told me what they did, and that they were ruthless. I don't want to be the one to look them in the eye and say I was from Mobius. That's why I have my friends like Gil to help me.

You know what else has been bothering me? These ships supposedly had equipment that would have worked just fine after a thousand years. They were designed for extended use for multiple colonies. Why did we just give them to the Overlanders when they left? We could have started our own colonies... but when you look at the facts, we beat them down to nothing. It was a chance for them to start a new life without endangering us. So, we gave them the one thing that could make them powerful again.

I can't help but think we got the short end of the stick here.

I suited up along with Gil in a similar looking suit when I was on Europa. A couple of his buddies were also suited up. What bothered me is that they had guns with them.

"Why do you need those?" I asked. "They won't be shooting at us, will they?"

"Standard procedure." Gil said. "They're with us just in case things get nasty. You know that the Kingdom and the Overlanders are still technically at war. There hasn't been a peace treaty or anything like that, so there's still a danger of them shooting back." He flicked on the safety. "Besides, our orders are fire if fired upon. As much as I don't like it, the Overlanders have the first crack. I may be down one man, but I'll be justified in taking down a few dirtbags."

I thought about that as I was suiting up. My radiation suit was disenfected from my journey on Europa so I could use it over this world. Same procedure as last time. The helmet slipped over my head and I sealed myself in. I also tested the visor's polarization. When we met the Overlanders, I want to look them in the eye and tell them I'm a Mobian.

So, Gil's team of Marines and I walked into the airlock. We grabbed a bunch of thruster packs and hooked them around our suits. It felt like a very heavy backpack. Gil took a length of cable and clipped it onto my thruster frame.

"This is just in case. Follow my lead though and use short bursts."

I nodded. I was ready.

The Marines made one last check on their gear and said they were ready to pump the airlock clean. In minutes, there was absolute silence, and they only voices I heard were through my radio. Gil said, "Here's s neat trick." He grabbed my helmet and placed it up against his. "Can you hear me?" He asked. Surprisingly enough, I could _feel_ his voice. "We can talk like this in case our radios go out. Just touch helmets and talk like this."

True, our radios still were on, but the vibrations caused by his voice went through my helmet. It was very cool. Gil gave the order to cycle open the airlock and we walked towards the edge. I started over into eternity. There was a very strong feeling of vertigo as I saw nothing but the stars. I looked above and saw the curve of Alpha Centauri II. We were upside down... if that meant anything at all here.

One of Gil's friends made a small leap. Once outside of the ship's gravitational influence, he continued with constant momentum until he stopped himself with his thruster pack. "Come on out!" he said cheerily with a big smile on his face. "The water's fine!"

One by one, the Marines were getting ready to step into space. They bravely jumped from the ship and started moving around with their thrusters. Only I stood on the lip and gulped. "You ready, kid?" Gil asked.

"I... I don't know." I recalled saying. "Seems a bit scary."

"It was scary my first time too." He half smiled. "Now, we're going to jump on three. Like it or not kid, you're coming with me."

I was horrified for a second and wanted to go back. Gil counted from one to three in a flash and I found myself jumping along with him into empty space.

How do I describe it? How do I describe a constant free-fall? How can I describe the feeling of weightlessness when one has never felt it? Think of yourself constantly falling. You never reach the ground because you're always moving as fast as you are falling. That's it. That's all it is. Constantly falling and never hitting the ground.

You want to know something? It's the greatest feeling in the world.

For a short time, I was feeling totally free. I think I even did a summersault in space, to the chuckles of the Marines.

"Yeah, I remember my first flip!" One of the Marines, Clarence, said.

"Alright kid, time to stop messing around." Gil told me. Let's head forwards, two second burst."

I held down the stub of my thruster and was thrown forward by the force. The Marines went around me as well. In seven seconds, we were planting our boots on the ancient metal plating of the _Enterprise_, the last colony ship of Matthew Mobius' Lost Million. I nearly cried as I walked within this hallway. Growing up, I was taught about the _Enterprise_, as well as some of the other ships in the colony fleet like the _Mayflower_, the _Magnolia_, and seven other craft. The _Magnolia _stands out for me because that ship was the start of the Overlander's reach on Mobius, and her metal components make up Mega-Central, the deserted city that was once the Overlander capital, now tended by a mad AI.

The Marines drew their weapons. "I thought this was fire if fired upon!" I hissed.

"Just a precaution." Gil said. "They can't hear us coming."

"Corporal, I see flashes!"

"I see them Luther." Gil noted.

Those were the plasma torches we must have seen earlier. Some workers might be tearing apart a wall or something like that. So, we turned a corner, and ran into our first Overlander contacts: two very surprised construction workers.

We knew they were Overlanders right away. One look at their gloved hands confirmed it: Three fingers and a thumb, a byproduct of radiation mutation. They wore helmets with large visors and wore hi-viz tabard-like overlays on their space suits. We could see their faces clearly as we pointed weapon flashlights at them. Gil grabbed one of them and Forced his helmet against the construction worker, and depolarized his helmet and stared straight into the man's wide eyes.

"W...who are you?" The horrified man said. "Wh... what are you?"

"HUMAN, MOTHERFUCKER! WHO ARE YOU?"

"Please, don't hurt me! I'm just a worker! We'll give you all we have!"

"Just tell me your radio frequency! Can you do that?"

"166.2Hz!"

We stopped for a second while Gil motioned for his team to key into the Overlander's COMs. Soon, we were able to talk with the construction workers.

"Guns? Are you crazy? Does the military know you're here?" the second worker asked.

"We're not from the military... well, we're not from _your_ military. UNSC Marine Corps."

Clarence said, "Look at my hand. Something seem off to you guys?"

The Overlander construction workers seemed confused. Understandable really...

"What's wrong with your hands?"

"We're Humans." Clarence said.

"What's a Human?" The second Overlander asked. Then he looked dead at me. "Who's this?"

I stepped forward and depolarized my helmet. "My name is Miles Amadeus Prower. You fought my people in the Great War!"

That seemed to get the men's attention. The first construction worker said, "The Great War? Holy Shit! It's a Mobian!"

"You want to ruin our lives again?" The second one said. "We came here with the rest of our clan to start over after you destroyed everything we tried to create!"

Gil stepped in. "You were at WAR! Shit happens!"

"Listen here... what were you called? Human?"

"My name is Corporal Dale Gilliam!"

"OK, _Gilliam_, if you're allies with these creatures, you should know that they aren't the goody two-shoes that they always say they are! Hey Mobian, they ever teach you about the Cobar Concentration Camps in school?"

"The what?"

"We don't have time for this." Gil said. "We have a science vessel next door full of people waiting to do their jobs. Can you put us in touch with anyone that can help us?"

The first construction worker nodded and tapped his COM set.

"No funny ideas, prettyboy." Clarence growled, and menaced with his weapon. "Just do what the Corporal asks.

"HQ, this is Bodare. There's something very weird going on up here."

I couldn't hear the man on the other end of the call, but the Overlander named Bodare said, "They say that they're Human. They look like Overlanders but they have five fingers and have a Mobian with them."

"Tell them we're from Earth. How does he react?"

So Bodare did. "He doesn't believe you."

"Typical." Luther said. "Well, let him know we have a half kilometer long ship ready to prove him wrong."

With that, Bodare contacted his superiors again, and then informed us that a government shuttle was on the way to pick us up and bring us directly to their leaders. Pleased, Gilliam contacted the Captain of the _Ponce_ and told him of the good news.

The other construction worker, a man I think was named Gobrick walked up to me. His face was older, and his hair was thinning. "So... why did you really come out here? I think we both know you didn't just stumble out here. Tell me the truth."

I had to tell him the truth: "We were asked by both the Mobian government and the Earth government to look for signs of life. We also wanted to know what became of you."

"Well, here we are." Bodare said. "And now that you've found us, we're ready to pack up and move to the next miserable star system and take twenty years to start all over again."

It was clear that Bodare held a grudge, but Gobrick was fairly straightforward in his thinking. They aren't so different than us after all. As we borded the shuttle that arrived with us, we made a call to the _PDL_ to send a Pelican after us...

...Just in case.


	60. Entry 16: December 12th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>(Temporaily repurposed to Miles Prower)<br>Date: December 12, 3234  
>Entry Made 0020 (12:20 AM)<p>

Dear Journal,

What a day it has been, and we have plenty of scientiic data that we can use for research purposes. I'll get to what we did today, but I want to talk about how we met the Overlander leadership, and it was as traumatic for them as it was for us.

The last entry ended with us boarding a shuttle bound for Alpha Centauri's surface. The pilot was impartial to us, as if he wasn't surprised. We strapped in and immedietely headed towards the planet. The Marines sat silently as the Overlander guards just stared at us not saying anything until one of them opened their mouths and asked, "Why is he with you?"

I realized immedietely that they were speaking about me.

"He's a friend." Gil responded. "And he's under our protection."

"Like I give a damn if he's under your protection or not! These little fuckers were responsible for the worst war in history!"

"Don't talk to me about the worst wars in history!" Gil roared. "We have stories from Earth that can make your hair curl!"

The Overlander looked straight at Gil. "So, you say that you're really from Earth, huh? You're really from the ancient homeland of Saint Matthew?"

Did I miss something? Did he call Dr. Matthew Mobius a saint? Was the founder of the Mobian colonies now a religious figure in Overlander society, or what?

"What do you mean 'Saint Matthew'?" I asked.

"He sowed the seeds of our revolution and empowered us with the grace of God himself."

Sounds a lot like the starting of the American colonies to me, like I learned in Ancient Earth History. They were driven by 'God's grace' and they thought they were the chosen people. It seems that the Overlanders, or at least this person in front of me, thought the same.

"We are from this ancient homeland. You see my fingers?" Gil took his gloves off. "Look at my fingers. Count with me: one, two, three, four, five! See? Five! Now take a look at your hands, sunshine. You only count four, don't you?"

The Overlander did indeed take off his glove and looked at his fingers. "You're just genetic offshoots that we left on Mobius when we left."

Gil seemed to have had enough. "Oh for the love of - who here's from Earth?"

Clarance said, "Yo!"

"Where are you from?"

"Alberta!"

"See? Look at this man's shoulder patch. See this flag? It says 'Canada'! Canada is a nation on Earth!"

The Overlander guards looked at one another. "Have you ever heard of a country called Canada?" one asked.

"No." another said. After making a quick aside glance, he said, "I think these guys may be the real thing."

"That's not for us to decide. Looks like you're going up against the Head Minister."

"We'll be on our best behavior."

One of the Overlanders looked at me. "Shouldn't your parents be here with you?"

I hadn't seen my parents in quite some time. They were back on Mobius... somewhere. I talked from time to time with them, but it was clear that they were very busy doing whatever the King and Queen wanted them to do. Same with Sonic. We all had homes to go to, but we just couldn't find the time to, not to mention it was boring at home.

"My parents aren't here."

"So this guy's your babysitter then." the lead Overlander grinned and pointed at Gil, who scowled.

"Yeah, I'm the kid's guardian. You so much as lay one of your four fingers on him, and I show you how many ways you can carve up a meathead."

The Overlander soldier scarled. "I can't guarantee that. You know the war never really ended. You kicked us off the planet and left us to our own devices."

I spoke up. "You were racists who believed for hundreds of years that you were the greatest species ever walked the surface of Mobius. You wanted to put us in our place."

"And I still agree with that." The soldier responded. "Saint Matthew gave his blessing upon our founders."

Luther, the other Marine with us said, "Is the whole Overlander society reduced to a theocracy?"

The soldier sitting next to the rambling man said, "No, it's just a religion, much like anything else can be a religion."

"Like Christianity?"

"...Yes actually, just like Christianity."

The shuttle bobbed in the air, and must have hit an air pocket since it dropped rapidly. The pilot apoligized and announced that we were coming in for a landing.

The Overlander soldier looked at me, "What about the traitor, Julian? Is he still on Mobius?"

"Who's Julian?" Gil asked.

"Julian Kintobor." I said. "You might know him as Robotnik."

Gil took a second. "The briefing. Oh yeah. Big guy, very fat, wore a nice pair of pinc-nez. Bald."

"Yeah, that's him." the scienstist said. "Well?"

"We kicked his ass about five months ago. Since then he's gone into hiding in our universe. We're hunting him down, and it's not cheap. We've asked for help from other races to locate him."

"What do you mean, other races?" The second soldier said. "You mean... aliens?"

Gil nodded. "Yes, aliens do exist."

"I... I guess you are telling the truth after all." The first soldier said. "You are from another world entirely."

"That's what we've been trying to tell you!" I spoke out.

The shuttle landed five minutes later in some sort of airfield. It wasn't anything that I could describe as an airport, since there were barely any runways, and a couple of landing pads. Maybe they used shuttles like these, but I doubted it. These models were ramshackle. It seemed likely that they were using propeller-driven aircraft. Something that my Human friends might find primitive. Or not. I have seen helicopters on Earth from time to time. But I look around this planet and I don't see anything at all. If transport does exist, it wasn't very wide in the field of air travel.

Cars on the other hand, were present. I saw trucks that were as hulking and intimidating as the Overlanders that I saw. By the way, the armor seemed more... organic fused with technology. In stark contrast with the Human BDUs that Gil and his buddies were wearing, did not have any rank insignia except for a chevron or two displayed on the chest, no unit marking, no nationality flag, and the helmet itself seemed to be based on that of Roman Centuerian. A T-shaped visor which allowed eye slits and a wide opening for the mouth and nose seemed to be protected by a transparent material. Whether it was glass, Plexiglas, or something else entirely, I was not sure. Human armor on the other hand seemed rooted in history. They had camouflage patterns on their fabric, flags of countries where they originated from, hard, angular surfaces, and a helmet that allowed a durable visor to drop down if they needed it. Between these two Human subspecies, the Overlanders were clearly the more alien of the two.

I had to ask one of the Overlander soldiers a question because it was nagging me ever since I saw Alpha Centauri II.

"Hey, what do you call this planet? The Terrans call this world Alpha Centauri II in their universe."

The angry Overlander said, "We call this planet Mabia."

"Mabia?" Clarence asked. "Sounds like Mobius."

"There's actually a story behind that that we tell our children when they ask. When the colony ships arrives in orbit, the Captain's daughter was on the bridge with him. She was only four years old at the time and she couldn't speak well yet. She saw the planet in front of her and it looked a lot like Mobius, so she tried to say the name. All that came out was '_Mabia, Mabia!_' The story goes that the Captain smiled and said to his daughter on the spot, '_That's right, sweetie. Mabia. Home_."

This was an interesting story. It helped me see several things right on the spot. The first of which was the Overlander's story of colonization of Alph - I mean _Mabia_. Secondly, it made me see that Overlanders were not totally evil as we have been told. A young girl named their planet and her loving father did it for her. It also makes the two iterations of the planet much easier to tell apart. The thing is, if we find planets that are identical to the ones in the Sol system in other universes, then we would need to give them different names to tell them apart. The original name that the colonists gave Mobius was Terra Nova. Not bad, but not very creative.

The Pelican hovered above us. One of the soldiers asked us what the dropship was doing up there and we told them it was for protection. It didn't have anything beside the 70mm chin gun, and the pilots promised that the safeties were on. However, what we refused to tell them was that there were five more aircraft on the _PDL_ that we could call on if we were fired upon. Gil's policy of fire if fired upon still stood. We asked to see the leaders of the people in this area. Lo and behold, we were brought to the central government building itself. All along the way, we looked at the architecture, and it was as alien as the people I was talking to. The architecture did not strike me as Human. It was sloping, rounded, with some blocky spires, but it looked like some of the buildings were a mix between solid and fluid. It must have been difficult to do this from the materials that the ships and molding the metal must have been even harder. I kind of liked it, and there was plenty of green space. It seems like the Overlanders... rehabilitated or something. Twenty years in isolation seemed to change their motives... or so it seemed on the surface.

"Look at this place." Luther said. "Haven't seen anything like this since I was on one of the Outer Colonies."

"There's stuff like this in Human space?" I asked."

"Not necessarily Human. Aylyde architecture looks something like this."

I told him that I didn't know what Aylydes were. I have to look that up.

[[Note to self: What are Aylydes?]]

The Pelican held at over four thousand feet and followed us around. I gulped and looked at the Overlander party that was in the truck with us. They had strange guns that again, seemed alien to me. They looked like plasma weapons if anything. The soldier saw me staring at it. "You know that your kind killed five of my friends? They had families, friends, and children."

I didn't know how to respond to that. The Overlander told me something that I could have never believed because _we_ were always seen as the benevolant and better races. If what I was told was true... there was a nastier side of Mobians that I never knew about.

The government building was somewhat oval-like in design with multiple windows and even a flagpole. The flag had three parts, a red white and blue stripe tilted at a 45 degree angle. I've seen flags like these in the history books, but nobody thought of flipping them diagonally. We walked inside, with me in front, and Gil's squad right behind me. We were flanked by Overlander Centurians (that's what I'm calling them) with huge plasma cannons. The hallway itself was smooth metal and it was lined with doorways that seemed ripped from the colony ship itself.

"Your weapons." one of the guards said. Gil looked at his men and then back to the guards.

"OK. You can have the guns, but we keep the ammo." He took the magazine out of the gun, and ejected the round in the chamber. Then he handed the gun to the Centurian. he did the same thing to his hangun. How the only thing the guns were good for were swinging.

"There you go, cupcake. Do the same thing, boys."

I don't know why they decided to do that. Why would they not just give them the guns? Maybe he had a reason. I'll ask later. We were unarmed and at enemy gunpoint. Not a good thing when the ones doing the pointing were Overlanders.

"Inside." The soldier said. We obliged and entered the room.

In front of us was a man who I was taught to hate. He was a hero to his people, a villain to ours, and above all, he was the brother of Robotnik. His name was Colin Kintobor, Operations Colonel and War Marshall to the Overlanders in the Great War

He wore a suit, unlike the other Overlanders who wore their strange battle armor. He stood at once when he saw me. Like oother things, his suit was more of a tunic with Human clothing influences. He even wore a tie... but it was far from what I would consider stylish.

"Leave us." He said. The soldiers salutes and left the room. The door slid shut and all there was was the suns shining through the window and birds singing the the background.

"It's been a long time since I saw your kind, Mobian." Colin said. He had a shaved head and grew a finely trimmed goatee. "I assume... that these are the so-called 'Humans' that I heard about."

"Corporal Dale Gilliam. This is part of Charlie Squad."

"Soldiers?"

"Marines."

"Oh, of course. Forgive me, I should have known the distinction." Colin got up and paced. "I've read about your kind in school. You _were_ a species of Human. In a sense, we are Human ourselves, but just an offshoot."

"You know about Humans?" Gil asked.

"I am educated, Corporal." Colin said smartly. "I was taught in school that our forefathers came from a world called Earth. The room in which you are standing was part of a ship from this place. You yourself are from this place, are you not?"

"That's correct."

Colin said to the entire group, "You have no idea what sort of significance that means to people. You are seen as something of... of a holy relic or something... but you are allied with Mobians."

I decided to remain quiet. Gil was the talker. I would just say something that would get us in trouble.

"Long story short, there was an accident, and we were transported here. The Mobians helped us link our two universes together."

Kintobor seemed to be surprised by this. He visibly pulled back. "You... have a way to get to Earth?"

"Yes. I saw my parents last month!"

Kintobor started pacing around, taking in what he was hearing. To someone who was isolted for twenty years and left out of the loop, this was a lot to take in.

"Look... Mr. Kintobor, I'm just a Marine. The person you want to talk to is the Captain of our ship, the _Ponce de Leon_. He'll answer any questions you want and anything about Earth you wish to know, he can do that. We were just the foreward greeters."

"I understand." Kintobor said. "I... I see. Call your Captain. In the meantime... what is your mission here?"

"Just to gain knowledge and send it back to Earth. We were checking up on you."

"Please then, go and learn from us. We... we wish to let our kin on Earth know of our existence... even the... Mobians deserve a bit of knowledge. Marines, you can go. You, Mobian... stay with me. I want to talk to you."

Gil and his team left, and I was alone in the office of one of the greatest enemies to the Mobians.

"What's your name?" Colin asked.

"Miles Amadeus Prower."

the Overlander seemed to have heard my family name before. "Prower... Prower... where have I heard that name before...?" the he remembered it. "Your father was Amadeus."

"Yes."

"I met him on the field of battle."

"You shot him."

"Please try to understand that we were at war." Colin shrugged. "It was personal at the time... but things have changed. That isn't to say that my people aren't quite ready to accept you with open arms... not yet."

"What happened?"

"Look around you, Prower. We found a new world. Mabia is more than we could have ever hoped for. It's a world where we can forge our own destiny without having to contest for power. We can live, hunt, breed, and there is no war. It's something that we have never thought of. All of our history was filled with conflict with your kind.

I was stunned. First and foremost I was having a civil conversation with an Overlander of all people, but he had found peace, and was even ready to give us information about his society. What happened? So I asked him.

"By the time the Great War came about, I despised Mobians. I didn't know why really except for what my teachers and parents told me: They were inferior creatures, they were a blight on the planet; we were the true rulers and they were only servants. That's what we were told. I believed what they told me because I couldn't hear any other voices of different opinion. I was specifically conditioned to hate. It made me fight harder. When the war was over and we left Mobius, did I realize that there was no reason to hate anymore. We had a place where we could just live. I think that's what we really wanted. Just to live without having to compete with anybody but ourselves."

"The Humans competed with other alien races."

"Yes, but I can imagine that it turned out just like how we competed with you. A long war, and hundreds of thousands of dead."

Colin Kintobor had smacked the sociological nail on the head.

"Yes, actually."

"Then we realize that this is simply Human nature then." He smiled. I understood completely, as we had a bit of Humanity inside us as well. "I'm not saying that war will never happen. It's inevitable." He looked out the window. "But I will be the first in a long line that will stop it from happening for as long as I can. We will change who we were, and maybe... just maybe... we can have peace someday when we choose to return to Mobius."

I had to ask Colin Kintobor the question that popped into my head in the shuttle.

"Sir, what was the Cobar Concentration Camp?"

"What?" Kintobor asked. He seemed upset that I broght it up.

"The Cobar Concentration Camp. I heard about it in the shuttle ride down here. What was it?"

"Do you know what a Concentration Camp is?"

"No."

"The Mobians have their freaks too. A general named Tellius Lionheart thought it would be a good idea to show that the Mobians meant business if we pushed them. One of our cities, Huntergate, was attacked by General Lionheart's men. You would know this city as Cobar, an ancient place where some of the first Humans resided on Mobius. I do not believe that King Max knew of this attack. Almost ten thousand people were walled off from the rest of the world, military patrols were kept in the area, and for FIVE YEARS were starved. In the end, they were all shot, and they bones may still remain to this day, that is if Tellius didn't cover up his attrocity."

I didn't know how to react to this. He even had photos taken by soldiers. I didn't think that it was at all possible, but there it was... right in front of my eyes. The Mobians could be monsters too.

"I'm sorry..." Colin said. "I'm sorry I had to show you that, but I needed to tell the truth to someone. It doesn't help that Tellius got away with his crimes, because no evidence of a massacre at Cobar ever took place. The city was officially reported evacuated. I've had to carry that for nearly twenty years. I hope you understand."

I did... somewhat. Then, he said to me, "Let me ask you a question now."

"What?"

"What ever happened to my brother, Julian?"

"Julian...? I think you mean Robotnik."

"Is that what he called himself?"

"Yes." I told him. I told him that after his defection to our side, Robotnik initiated a coup that ousted us out of Mobotropolis and into Knothole. He proceeded to rename himself and declare himself a dictator. Colin was not surprised. According to him, his brother always felt neglected and ostracized because of his brilliance, his ambitions, and naturally, his weight issues. It wouldn't have been long before he would have struck a deal for change.

"Is he still terrorizing you?"

"No. He left Mobius and now he is gathering followers in the Human's universe."

I looked at him hard. Colin sat down in his seat and nodded his head, and said the most straightforward thing I would have expected to hear from him.

"Well, Prower... I recommend that you get started on your search. My brother certainly liked to bide his time. The more you wait, the more followers he will gather. With his brains and his construction skills, it won't be long before your Earth will be fighting for its freedom soon."

::END ENTRY::


	61. Entry 61: December 13th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>(Temporarily Repurposed to Miles Prower)<br>Date: December 13th, 3234  
>Entry Made 1546 (3:46 PM)<p>

Dear Journal,

I've got my first draft done for the Admiral! I've just finished it on the computer and I'm uploading this for future reference. Of course, due to Naval Intelligence regulation §22-7.5, I am legally obliged to wipe any records of it from this device, lest it fall into enemy hands, yadda, yadda, yadda. I'm still making minor additions, but this should be what he should be getting on his desk in a few days!

CIV#3345-1132-M

Dear Admiral Flynn,

My name is Miles Amadeus Prower, Civilain Consultant Number 3345-1132-M. Our team was tasked with the study of the so-called missing Human subspecies called Overlanders which were once native to the planet of Mobius in the universe parallel to Earth's. Our team, headed by Captain Francesco Constantino, who is in command of the UNSC Science Vessel _Ponce de Leon _(S-447), successfully located a group of Overlanders who were living on the planet Mabia. Mabia is the analogue to Alpha Centauri II. The name of the planet stems from a corruption of the word Mobius, which according to citizens, was given by the child of the commanding officer of the colony vessel that arrived here. Below is a description of the facts that we have learned after landing on the planet over the course of four days. Astrological reports can be reviewed under the report of Doctor Richard Garrett.

Our first contacts were construction workers that were working on deconstructing one of the original colony ships called the _Enterprise_. It is unknown when the ship was built because of highly secretive files which are still under lock and key by the Office of Naval Intelligence, even after 944 years. The Overlanders, named Bodare and Gobrick, were surprised to see us and did not recognize Corporal Gilliam's forward team as Human, due to the Overlanders not knowing anything else for close to a thousand years. They took a bit of hostility towards me because of my status as a Mobian. From this, I could conjecture that with the younger to middle age Overlanders, scars of the war will still fresh for them, as they were, to put it bluntly, exiled from our planet due to their ethnocentric, possibly genocidal plans, although no such genocide ever occurred during the five year war.

Our first political contact was with the First Minister himself, Colin Kintobor. This man originally held the rank of Operations Colonel, which I would say is closest to a Brigadier General in ranks we can understand. Since the colony's inception, he has presided as a de facto leader along with his family. What should be striking is Colin's familial ties: He is the brother of Julian Kintobor, whom you know is Dr. Robotnik. From what I was able to gather, Colin and Julian never got along in their lives due to sibling rivalry and differing ideologies. Colin is definitely the more level-headed of the two brothers and was more or less nice to talk to. After leaving the planet, he was forced to change his views and focus on the survivors. The way I see it, he certainly succeeded as the colony started to perform its own subsistence and was able to become self-sufficient within one generation.

Because it was not part of a larger empire, Overlander culture on Mabia started to make rapid changes due to teaching young children a different way to live. Now they were farmers, propspectors and explorers again, no longer conquerors and warlords. There's no need for it on their new world, where we assume, they are the only sentient beings living on that planet. The economy is subsistence-based and focuses around trade goods, similar to how the American culture existed in the early 18th Century. Here, farms exist in large abundance. At first glance, I was able to pick out over 23 individual farms that existed all around the main settlement of Maigita. However, upon further inspection, I discovered a further twenty farms farther away. The food procurement alone will be able to sustain not only Maigita, but an additional five villages, which I assume exist as well. When a further culture develops and when the first countries will be established, I am almost certain that Maigita will be the capital city, which could happen within the next 100 years. It is possible that children alive today may well see the unification of a New Overlander state system.

Their machines seem to be consisted of devices that they brought from Mobius as well as vehicles and tools that were clearly built after their landing in roughly 3220-3221. Transportation exists, and it appears that their vehicles are driven by some sort of plasma cell, which conserves energy by some form of plasma alternator. I am unfamiliar with the internal mechanics, but I think that it functions through some sort of micro-reactor within the cell that produces more plasma when the vehicle is in motion. It may need some form of fuel as well to make the reaction function. They are not fast, but they are hardy. Most trucks and cars that I saw were boxy, utilitarian, and functional, in contrast with other forms of vehicles that I have seen over the years.

Construction does not resemble Human or Mobian in the very least. Overlander construction seems to have a curving organic edge to it, despite their technological affinity. While slanting structures may exist on small scale, larger structures may resemble an ovoid or curved structure, in stark contrast with Human architecture. For comparison an attached photo of a Overlander civic building was sent to you, which appears to have some sort of restaurant with it.

In stark comparison to these types of construction methods, this is an example of a Human city. Your buildings are much blocker. The taller they get, the wider bases they tend to have and have an International-Style construction plan that either ends in a flat top or a slanted top, although rounded roofs are not uncommon. In the photo I linked to you you see a city called Hephestus. Hephaestus, a city just off the coast of the continental US which was constructed on an artificial island. This city of well over 10 million people shows off Human technological prowess and pronounced building shape, which seems to largely use angles and height to show the importance of the buildings. The large building in the far back center is the Nao-Ting Interplanetary Shipping headquarters. The building is well over four kilometers high.

In Megacentral, the old Overlander capital on Mobius had the Dael Clan Tower, which was the tallest superskyscraper in the entire city. Standing at just under a kilometer, it was believed to have been constructed in 2521 and has been abandoned for close to twenty years.

In terms of social structure, the Overlanders are no different than any other societies that have been in this stage of development over the centuries. Society is structured, but with a twist that the Overlanders love using: a class system. At the top of the sociopolitical food chain are the Leaders, who control the societal tides of the colony. These people were generally already in a seat of government in the old civilization. Roughly five percent of the population (according to official records) are in the Leader class. The second most important class is the Protector Class. Since the end of the war and their exile, the Overlanders simply did not have anybody to fight. Their soldiers were folded into law enforcement. They received training from military teachers, but it was clear that their services to carry out wars were no longer needed. A much larger section of the population, about twenty percent, are within the Protector class. Third of all is the Commerce Class, which we would see as the middle class essentially. Close to thirty percent of the population lives in this class and are basically required to do jobs that can generate a sort of wealth between all the settlements. Money doesn't mean much in this society, but they work to get stores up and pay using a type of barter system. As more settlements pop up, it is very possible that we could see a resurgence of an economy. Lastly: the Farming class. This is the largest of the four classes. 55% of the population is within the Farming class, and their job is very apparent. These people tend, grow, and fix things relating to their farms, electronics, waste management, electricity, and other services that require a constant attention. These are the most numerous of the classes. Approximately twenty thousand people reside in this class and to be fair, they are very good at their job.

The suspected danger with a class system is that most people believe that there would be against another class and would consider them above all the rest, but the strange thing is that this is not true for the Mabian society. Every class realizes that without the others, the colony would fall apart. Education levels are decent, but the only thing that I am noticing is that they are embellishing the Great War in the Overlanders' favor. This is not entirely unexpected, but I found it slightly in poor taste.

For that matter, it seems that attitudes of the war have lessened ever since their exile. It was almost certain that their attitudes showed that they haven't forgotten the war, but it was clear that their hostility was lessening. I am not saying that it is correct that they should forget the war ever did not happen, nor should I say that it should be forgotten, but all things considered, I am impressed by what the Overlanders have become in such a short generation.

Further ethnographies are going to be written on the Overlanders of Mabia (The people's official designation as they have stated themselves), but the Office of Naval Intelligence needs to know the simple existence of these people. They would be defined as a sovereign state and are not to be approached with harm due to the fact that they do not have a sufficient military force to defend themselves. It is in my opinion as a civilian consultant that we choose to leave these people alone. It could be a possibility for the Humanitarian Corps to offer extra supplies, equipment or gifts of Brotherhood. They know that Earth exists and that there are more Humans. Their curiosity has been piqued, and curiosity is something that our three races share, no matter how we look, or even act, on the outside.

I will be sending more reports eventually. I thank you in advance for taking this paper, Admiral. Further reports will be made by Dr. Garrett and his team in the future.

Sincerely,

Miles Amadeus Prower

Well, that's what I have written. It took me a couple days to think and write up all while going through Overlander culture. I think that it covers all the bases. It's short, but jam packed of important information that one would need to see on the first glance. I'm sure that Admiral Flynn will be pleased with my report.

This reminds me of something I should have said earlier: Dr. Wei has been confined to quarters for the rest of the mission following our incident at Europa. His actions with the woman in stasis was unnecessary and it was rightfully reported. He denied it at first, but then I showed Captain Constantino the recording. It was worth it to see his face turn red on the spot as he was caught in the biggest lie in his career. I don't know what will happen to him. I don't know if you can get a doctorate taken away like for a doctor, but I think that prison time would have been more appropriate. I know that he got us out alive, but there should have been other ways to do it. There just should have been.

Dr. Garrett's now the head researcher aboard the _Ponce de Leon_. He deserves this and I'm sure he will make many more extremely helpful discoveries. I'm sure his mission at Mabia is going to excel him to great heights. He and his assistant researcher, Dr. Qek the Gallvente deserve all the praise they get. I expect that I'm going to get called back to Mobius in a couple of days. Christmas is coming soon, and I make it a point always to be at home when Christmas hits Mobius. I'll be waiting until then and make more notes. Sadly, I won't be able to tell a whole lot of people about this thanks to that 'under pain of death' NDA between our two governments. I'll bet that I can tell Aunt Sally, but nobody else.

Well, I'd best be off. Same procedure as the last. Gil calls it a 'sweep and burn'. Leave no trace.

::Copying data to secondary source::

::NOTICE: Copy Successful::

::Are you sure you wish to delete entry? y/n::

::Entry Dec 13, 3234 has been deleted::

::End Entry::

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: This chapter in particular I would like to get a bit of criticism from, because I am essentially writing an ethnography of the Overlander society outside of anything that Archie has ever told us. Lots of things (especially my Anthropology and Culture classes) went into this piece and I would like to see if any of my readers would find this believable. So, a review of this chapter could be very important because it could even help me with my Anthropology papers in the future! <strong>

**More awaits, my friends. We are nowhere near done yet.**

**Also, those buildings do have picture links, but my DeviantART account has the links for the chosen photos I used to represent Human and Overlander architecture respectively. **


	62. Entry 62: December 17th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>(Temporarily Repurposed to Miles Prower)<br>Date: December 17th, 3234  
>Entry Made 1414 (2:14 PM)<p>

Dear Journal,

That's it. I'm going home. I've been put on a ship that will take me right back to Mobius. In truth, I was a little bit nervous the whole time about being on a planet that was occupied by a group of people that we thought were gone forever. I heard tales of their cruelty, but looking at them a generation later, I can see that starting to fade. The war is over, we need to realize that, but I can see the way that they looked at me… they didn't like me.

But I'm a Mobian though, so that didn't surprise me that much. The older ones seemed like they really disliked my presence, but the kids… they looked at me and waved, like they didn't even care. The parents however brought them back into the house and didn't let them out while I was around. I remember feeling so sad when I saw that. It wasn't right that I was just tossed aside like that just because I was different from them. Old habits die hard indeed. The Humans however didn't have my troubles simply because they were just so similar to the Overlanders. Many scientists were invited into homes, schools and even a few Marines were treated like cousins. My kind and I would not be welcome here for years to come. I realized this as I was sitting near a fountain and looking at the water sprinkling. It was a beautiful creation, a sphere stood over the pool where water dripped along the rock's curve and the drops fell into the pool with gentle drips.

I was upset and hurt. I was about to consider leaving when I heard a voice say out of the corner, "Why are you crying?"

I looked over and saw a young Overlander girl, no more than five years old standing beside a tree. She looked at me with bright blue eyes that clashed with her blonde hair. She wore a large pink shirt that was too long for her and purple pants. Her hair had a single ponytail draping down her right side. She just said, "You look sad."

I told her I wasn't and asked where her mother was. She didn't answer but instead she walked up to me. "You're sad." I could see that she was smart so I told her what the problem was.

"You don't look scary." She said in an innocent voice. "You look like a teddy bear!"

I smiled at that, and it made me feel very good. It looked like there was hope for this race yet. They had the capability to leave the prejudice behind them. I asked her, "Your parents don't like my parents. They think we're scary."

"Well I think you are nice!" she smiled wide like I knew a child would. "Are you leaving?"

"I have to. I have friends back home."

"Do they all look like you?"

"We're all different. Some of my friends are Human too."

"Come back soon!" She said jumping up and down. "It'll be harvest time soon! We all have fun with the other people around here!"

By this point I was beaming. "I hope that I can come back one day. What's your name?"

"Surri! Surri Carmichael!" the little Overlander girl said. "What's your name?"

"Miles, but you can call me Tails!" I then realized that this was remarkable that I was able to have a friendly relationship with an Overlander. This was probably the first time in many, many years that we were able to do this. I took her picture because I wanted to remember when a little girl changed my thoughts on a whole race and made me think that there was hope.

At the time that I am writing this, I am sitting on board a transport that will take me back to Mobius. I will return in a day or so, so I'm thinking of getting a bit of sleep. Gil's staying behind to help provide security for the colonists and serve as a subject of investigation for Overlander scientists who want to know about Humanity. More Mobians will probably come to share information, but they won't be allowed into the Alliance for many years to be sure. Mabia is beautiful, as are most worlds that can support life. The triple moons hovering in the background make me feel calm.

I do want to come back one day, but when will that be? How old will Surri be, and what will her culture be like? Will the young like her change her ways of thinking and see us as old enemies, or will she and other like her change the way the Overlander society is? My mind is getting dizzy thinking about it! I hope it does change, but it's all up in the air.

We just jumped to Slipspace. The moons, Mabia, and the stars are gone. All there is outside is a bunch of black nothing. There's nothing else really for me to talk about… oh yeah! Today's the 17th! Christmas is right around the corner! I love Christmas! The gifts, the family, the singing, the snow and the warm feeling of it all! It's my favorite time of the year and I just go crazy every time that it comes along.

I wonder if the Humans celebrate Christmas? I mean, I think they do. I read in books that they celebrated Christmas, but that was so long ago! Maybe they stopped celebrating it… or maybe they didn't! I'll have to ask Chris when I go back. Maybe he'll be able to tell me if Humans still celebrate Christmas!

This journal will likely be back in Sally's hands again soon! It's been fun, and I wonder if it'll be joining me on another trip some time again!

This is Miles Prower, Signing off!  
>::END ENTRY::<p> 


	63. Entry 63: December 20th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: December 20th, 3234<br>Entry Made 1141 (11:41 AM)

Dear Journal,

New password lock in place, readjusting user preferences… there.

Welcome home, my little beauty. Where oh where have you been? I know that Tails has had his hands on this journal for a couple weeks, and strangely enough, there is very little information on the memory. When I say little though, I mean barely anything at all. Looking at the history, several entries were deleted for unknown reasons. Given Tails' brief description of the trip he was going on, '_I can't say; top secret_', the information was far too valuable to be held on this platform. Now I was left out of the loop. Oh well. Let's leave this in the past and get up to speed.

The date today is December 20th in the year of our lord 3234. I just learned that phrase really! It sounds kind of neat; makes dating seem a whole lot more poetic and dramatic. The weather is starting to rear its ugly head and pelt us with the white stuff. As of today, we have received three days straight of snow. Yesterday it was a whiteout. You couldn't see five feet in front of your face. All surface to orbit traffic was suspended and flights were delayed for hours. The first major snowstorm of the season cost us quite a bit in terms of shipping costs. You see, federal intersystem trade was just initiated about three weeks ago and we're starting to ship goods back and forth. The fact that shuttles couldn't get to our shipyards – and we had to use our actual sea shipyards as makeshift spaceports – and we couldn't get anything into orbit cleanly is going to cost… wow…. 5 million dollars. That's equivalent to nearly seven million credits for the Humans. Not good. Starting tomorrow though, we're going to get the ships in overdrive. According to my father, he will get two ships up at every haul and two ships on every touchdown. He'll make up for it. My father is a smart man.

I haven't been able to enjoy the winter wonderland just yet. I've received some interesting news from Admiral Devenson. Now, as I mentioned in one of my older entries, Devenson was one of the possibly axe-crazy flag officers that was assigned to look into finding Shadow and Robotnik. So far, the search for Eggy is not going so smooth. However, I did receive a voice message from him that they recently came into contact with Shadow, who went missing nearly six months ago. According to this message, and I will be brief about it because, you know… 'classified info', Shadow was discovered during a routine check of a random freighter while it was on the ground. The customs officers went in, looked around, and quoting the quote, 'discovered a small black mammal hiding within a cargo crate. Initially we assumed that it was a vermin that snuck aboard the vessel but its size was too large to be anything less than a person'. Right then, Shadow bolted out of the freighter, all the while bumping into a few dead ends along the way. The customs officers were so horrified that they didn't even draw their weapons. Within seven seconds of being discovered, Shadow was loose on the planet he was on. The kicker was that the planet in question, Shequesh, is outside of UN-controlled space, so Shadow is loose in sovereign territory and we don't have the power to do anything about it. The second kicker: Shadow has been hopping transports illegally for close to two months, so it's anyone guess on how he got all the way out into the Datonian Empirate undetected.

Now, we aren't going after him: that's Devenson's problem. We have formally been asked to sit back and relax. Huh. You know, our services as Freedom Fighters are growing smaller and smaller. With Robotnik threatening war on the galactic community, and with the UNSC attending to matters all around Mobius, we are slowly being put out of business.

I'm going to make it a personal objective, even if I have to go to every city on the planet and ask if someone needs help, to see to it that Robotnik's machines of terror are put away and save more citizens from Roboticization. First order of business? The Dragon Kingdom. Some Robot Commander, designation XX-23 has a platoon of SWATbots holding a group of citizens along the border hostage, while threatening Roboticization. We're going to save them, starting tomorrow. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and I will be on the way tomorrow and will be back before Christmas. I can't just celebrate the holiday kicking Robot butt, now can I?

I'm also ordering the Lieutenant to go on another Recon mission to Robotropolis. There have been reports of strange lights coming from the spires. I will give him a group of snipers and scouts, but I trust him on this one. He's a big boy that can look after himself. He will be deployed tomorrow. If all goes well, we should be back before the 24th. Midday on the 23rd at the latest.

Time to get back to work!

::END ENTRY::


	64. Entry 64: December 22nd, 3234 PT1

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: December 22nd, 3234<br>Entry Made 1715 (5:15 PM)

Dear Journal,

Snow hasn't been letting up, though we've degraded from snowstorm to 'just a lot'. Weather reports are showing that we could be topping nearly two and a half feet already. Might not be fun to our infrastructure, but for the kids, there was no better time to go out and play. I had to smile when I saw the news videos of them running around in coats, snowpants and hats. They're having fun just being kids. Schools are closed, and I can't say that I'm shedding many tears today. Kids need time to just be kids, you know?

Tails was out there actually. He finally got that snowball fight with Sonic that he wanted. Sonic's a bit of a cheater though when he runs around getting cheap shots. Then again, Tails can just hover into the treetops and pelt the hedgehog from there. There's a fair amount of strategy involved, and with all the procedural training I've received over the last couple months, I could total them both on the basis of knowing when to attack and when to retreat. It makes me wonder how the Human would fare in a battle like this. He'd have fun, but maybe he'd take it too seriously. When you spend two years dodging bullets, going down to snowballs doesn't seem all that different. Especially when you load them with rocks.

That reminds me of a time when I was on the receiving end of a rock-filled snowball. It was about seven years ago. I was a young lady, if I may use the term. I was about 13 or so. Sonic and I were trading snowballs back and forth, and somewhere down the line he thought it would be a good idea to pack a Destroyer as he liked to call it. This was a snowball packed with rocks of course, but also ice bits. I think he thought it would stun me while he threw a few more. He leapt out of cover, wound up, and pitched a perfect sinker right into my face. He started laughing at first, but I got a bloody nose from it and ice in my eyes. I was actually crying that day because according to Dr. Quack I received a scratched cornea from that little event, and it hurt like a motherfucker. I think that was the first time I ever shouted ten curses in Sonic's direction, and received a bit of a disappointed talk from my mother about controlling my language. Sure, my eyes got better, but I knew one thing: never go into a snowball battle with Sonic unless you're prepared to take a physical and egotistical goal. If that were the case, I think Chris would be terrified to let his honor plummet.

Humans and honor. They are a weird species, you know that right? I may have mentioned once or twice how the Human enigma puzzled me. It's hard to believe that we are genetically related to them. On that note, let me say something about our culture as a lesson… in case somebody accesses this journal for educational purposes: religions rise and fall with time, and they can start from the weirdest things. Mobians follow the traditional ones like Christianity, Judaism, and in the far east, Islam remains. Mobians gather at the rumored location of the once revered city of Mecca. It's just a guess as the Xorda reduced that entire part of the planet to rubble about 12,000 years ago. No trace of Mecca exists so it's all based on faith for lack of a better term. A couple Mobian-central religions have developed around saviors like the Prophet William, who claimed to be a direct line to God sometime in 2400, the resulting religion called Salvationist that call for the rise of Mobian unity in an effort to become closer to the Divine. It's a nice message, but a small religion. A more popular one among the Mobians is the worship to the Goddess Aurora, who some have claimed to be God's wife. I don't know much about Aurorists as I am not one of them. The church that I AM a part of isn't so much a religion as it is a… homage.

There exists a church that honors the memories of the Ancients. Humans, but specifically the particular Humans who inhabited Mobius 12,000 years ago when the Xorda attacked; these are unrelated to the Humans from Earth (Yes I am aware that Earth and Mobius are interchangeable, but for the sake of clarity I am separating the two). These were people who were unjustly killed for the crimes of others. Now, does ten billion lives for the price of one sound fair to you? No, that certainly does not, and it does not sit well with me. I am a part of the Church of the Ancients to honor those that came before and presented us with so much to study and put ourselves into perspective. They were thought to be early in development, roughly 21st century tech, but nobody is sure. They could have been anywhere between the year 2000 and 2200 as they saw it in their timeline (We assume that it is actually the year 14,034 here, but we stuck with the timeline our ancestors used for the sake of convenience).

So many people. So much left to discover. Did they all die or were there survivors? If there are, I pray for them and I hope their sacrifices give us strength, for the day that the Xorda return, we will face them down and survive. It is inevitable, but perhaps we will be more ready now with our friends. Mobius give me strength, by the light of the world, illuminate the Path to Peace and Prosperity.

Sorry, just a little prayer I do every now and then. Keeps spirituality alive.

Hang on, I have a live feed. Ah, it's the Lieutenant! Hopefully he's doing alright in the desert.

[[ESTABLISHING LIVE FEED TRANSFER… HANDSHAKE PROTOCOL IN EFFECT]]

[[PLEASE WAIT… HANDSHAKE ESTABLISHED]]

VENNETTILLI: Hello, hello! Paradise calling!

SALLY: Ground pounder.

V: How are things hanging on your end?

S: Is this a helmet camera? I can only see your nose.

V: And a damn fine nose it is. Yeah, for ease of access. We put boots on the ground thirty minutes ago and we are closing in on the city.

S: Why didn't you go for direct insertion?

V: Sandstorm. Nothing major but we couldn't fly through it. Our bird is set down in the lee of a rock formation about 2 kilometers behind our position. Me and your Mobian scouts have been huffing it for nearly half an hour at top speed.

S: You covered two kilometers in thirty minutes?

V: I know, we're awesome.

S: Focus. What can you see?

V: According to the rangefinder, the city walls are about ten kilometers from here. I can make out some of the skyscrapers from this distance.

S: Can you see the spire?

V: That I can. Poking out easily just beyond the borders of the desert. You guys really used to live there?

S: We had ways to deal with the sandstorms.

V: Dispersion fields?

S: Really tall walls.

V: Ah, that explains it. Hey, Jimmy, set up a scanner. I want that spire in our sights in one minute.

UKN: Copy, sir.

S: What can you tell me about the spire?

V: Flashing.

S: In what way?

V: From this distance, I can determine that it is a pulse of sort. The light seems weak at the bottom of the spire that I can see and growing in intensity while it reaches the top. When it gets to the top of an antenna, it shines like a star for a second. Your family controlled this city before. You remember anything like this?

S: No. Actually, I don't. There was nothing like that in Old Mobotropolis. I remember the spire, but nothing like this. You'll have to do some digging, Human.

UKN: Scanner, ready, sir!

V: Let it run, Jimmy.

UKN: Aye-aye, sir!

V: OK. These are timed pulses. My watch says that there's about a three second gap when the light blast reaches the top of a spire. Another one comes up. This mean anything to you?

S: Again, no. I've never seen anything like this in Robotropolis before.

V: Any suggestions, ladies?

UKN: No, sir

UKN1: Not a thing, sir.

V: Any speculation, Highness?

S: Could be a form of communication.

V: Care to elaborate?

S: Gladly. Robotropolis contains the nerve center for the badnik forces. Eggpawns, SWATbots, unmanned aircraft, and drone spaceships.

V: So… this light might be a beacon. It could be relaying orders through photons.

S: Could be… oh man, I wish we had Tails here. He could help us with something like this.

V: Well, looks like I'm the best you've got. This footage is getting back to someone with a degree in programming, I tell you that. This… this scares the hell out of me. Have you ever considered an assault on the city?

S: Not smart, Chris. This is Robotnik's capital. You don't know how deep and how congested this city is. There could be robots, squatters, and even hostile militant forces within.

V: That haven't been roboticized, you mean.

S: Exactly.

V: Damn, it's getting dark. Still burning out here in December.

S: Hey Chris?

V: Yeah?

S: Do you still get snow?

V: What?

S: Do you get snow. Earth, I mean.

V: Do we get snow? Sure, we still get snow. Things haven't changed THAT much since your people landed on Mobius. I remember that there was a major snowstorm when I was eight years old. I couldn't see past Central Park. It was amazing. All air traffic was suspended.

S: Did you ever play in the snow?

V: From time to time. Columbus Plaza was a place where we had the best snowball fights around. Out of curiosity, why are you asking me?

S: You haven't heard the weather reports?

V: You gave the mission to me while I was still in orbit. I haven't had time to look out the window and cloudgaze. That bad, huh?

S: I'm not complaining.

UKN: Lieutenant! 5 contacts heading towards our position, fast!

V: How did they find us?

UKN: I don't know!

V: Prepare for battle, guys! Hey Princess, I'm going to have to let you go.

S: Come back alive, OK?

V: Die on your watch? No, ma'am. If I die, Captain Benedict can kick my ass in hell.

[[CONNECTION TERMINATED]]

Well, I have to hand it to him. He certainly is not short of gusto. Humans… nature's oddity. Warriors, politicians, businessmen, they really can't choose what they want to be, huh? I guess we take after them. I will be awaiting his report plus that footage. Something about that flashing light scares me too. We'll get to the bottom of it soon enough.

::END ENTRY::


	65. Entry 65: December 22nd, 3234 PT2

Journal of Sally acorn  
>Date: December 22nd, 3234<br>Entry Made 2200 (10:00 PM)

Dear Journal,

Come on, dammit! I lost contact with the Lieutenant's team five hours ago, and I haven't heard anything since! I've tried contacting the Indomitable but the ship reports that it's in no position to lend fire support. They don't even have any Pelicans available for pickup! No Pelicans! It's a damn SUPERCARRIER!

A bit of catch-up: Five hours ago, I made an entry where I received a live feed from Lieutenant Vennettilli when he was on a simple recon mission to investigate glowing lights coming from Robotropolis. I thought it would be a walk in the park when the Lieutenant and his two Mobian scouts were ambushed somehow. According to the Human, he took precautions and made his approach silent. I'm guessing of course, he never actually said it was a totally silent approach. Dumb Human…

Sorry… but he's an asset that would be very hard to lose. Given his combat experience, he's a value to the Freedom Fighters and OMEGA. Plus… I think it's safe to say that I can call him a friend. Friends go in there and pull the others out of the fire. But I just can't do it right now! No air assets and even if I DID have something available, it would be nearly an hour to get over there. If I had orbit-capable transport, I could cut that to about twenty minutes. Damn, damn, damn!

[[INCOMING LIVE FEED]]

No way. I knew you'd be alive and kicking, Human.

[[HANDSHAKE PROTOCOL ESTABLISHED]]

[GUNSHOTS]

VENNETTILLI: You know, these stupid things go out when you need them the most.

SALLY: I thought we lost you for a second!

V: You almost sound worried, Highness.

S: You wouldn't dare die on me, now would you?

V: Hell no, ma'am! Excuse me…

[GUNSHOTS]

V: There we go. What's up?

S: What's up? There was a total COM blackout from your team for the past five hours – that's what's up!

V: Allow me to explain: When we were ambushed, the tower spread something like a wave. I think it was some sort of jamming transmission. As soon as that thing went off, all COMs were dead. No satellite uplink, no communications either audio or video, even my GPS stopped working. I was lucky my visor HUD still worked or I would be down to the bare basics here.

S: How are you holding up?

V: Breathing

[THUMPS HIS CHEST]

V: Took one in the chest, but my armor stopped most of it. Got winded though.

S: What about the Mobians?

UKN1: I took a round to the arm. Went right through.

S: You alright, soldier?

UKN1: I've been better.

V: Attaboy, Lynx.

UKN: I'm right as rain. Still willing to do the job.

UKN1: Don't think that I won't do the work either. I just need to be patched up.

V: So, now that we have COMs reestablished, waiting for orders, ma'am.

S: Wait… where are you?

V: We are within the walls of Robotropolis.

S: How is that possible? The city is surrounded by a wall!

V: Well we found some kind of entrance.

UKN1: Probably some sort of maintenance accessway. The door was wide open so we went in. Better than getting shot.

S: Why didn't you run back to the dropship?

V: Over two kilometers of open desert with enemy fire breathing down our backs? I may be half-crazy, but not suicidal. Besides, the COMs went dead and we had no way to know if the dropship is even in one piece.

[HELMET PANS AROUND. VENNETTILLI'S CAMERA CAPTURES SOME OF THE BROKEN SKYSCRAPERS OF MOBOTROPOLIS]

V: Looks a lot bigger when you're actually standing in it.

(I can't believe he's actually in the city. Does he even know what this place is? Does he know how dangerous this city is? I've been in here enough times to tell him this isn't a playground or an obstacle course)

S: Do you know where you are?

V: Nope. Got a bit lost.

S: Oh dear God…

V: We're still trying to accomplish our mission, for Christ's sake.

S: Actually… since you're in the city, you might as well gather some more data. You're the first Human ever to set foot in Robotropolis… take pictures, why don't you?

V: Way ahead of you. Jimmy and Lynx are natural photographers.

UKN1: Thank you sir!

V: Don't let it go to your head, Jimmy! You're a sniper first! Grunts were everywhere as soon as we got about ten blocks in. We were pinned behind a stack of pipes. We cleared them though. Right now though, we're in a two story building taking notes on what we see.

S: And…?

V: Right off the bat, we saw patrols look at the bodies and look for us. Safe in this little cubby hole, they never found us.

S: How long have you been in that building?

[VENNETTILLI GLANCES AT HIS WATCH]

V: Two hours.

S: I'll call in an evac dropship.

V: Better yet, try to contact the dropship that brought us here. The pilot's callsign is Kingfish

S: OK, I'll do that.

[[CONNE CTION CLOSED]]

[[REOPENING CONNECTION w/DROPSHIP KILO 778]]

[[HANDSHAKE ESTABLISHED]]

OK, that's a start!

S: Kingfish, Kingfish, come in!

KINGFISH: This is Kingfish, identify!

S: This is Princess Sally Alicia Acorn of the Kingdom of Acorn.

K: Whoa, your Highness, what can I do for you?

S: You can get in the air and save a few men, pilot!

K: What happened? COM blackout took me off the map. It just wore off.

S: You'll be debriefed later. Right now, I need an emergency pickup for one Marine and two Mobian scouts! They are within the city to your North.

K: Crimeny… IN the city? I was told the place had AA guns!

S: They need your help, pilot! Get in the air, ASAP!

K:…Alright, I'm airborne. ETA to the Lieutenant's position is fifteen minutes while I find a safe way around!

S: Thank you, pilot.

K: Please, call me Monroe.

S: Thanks, Monroe. Get your bird in gear!

K: Roger! I'm in the air! Out!

[[CONNECTION CLOSED]]

Oh come on, I should have been there. This wouldn't have happened if I was there. I would have been able to pull him out of the fire. Hmm… that's just what he said before.

[[ESTABLISHING CONNECTION w/OMEGA ACTUAL]]

If you've gotten yourself into another fight, I will personally…

V: Can it wait? We're having a little party!

S: OH FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST, CAN YOU LAY OFF THE TRIGGER FOR ONLY A SECOND?

V: Wow, pardon me. They found us the same way they got us before: Completely out of the blue. You know, we should have scanned for satellites before we came down here.

UKN: You think that had something to do with it?

V: Just a guess.

S: Kingfish is on his way, but he needs 15 minutes to get a safe way through. Too high and he gets blasted.

V: We can hold out. We have the height advantage.

UKN1: Yeah, until they send those invisible robots after us.

V: Why do you have to open your mouth like that Lynx?

UKN1: Sorry, just thinking.

V: You're paid to scout, not to think. You want to speculate, do it in the briefing! Reinforce that position with sniper cover!

UKN1: SIR!

V: How long did you say? 15 minutes?

S: Roughly. Listen Chris, don't do anything stupid here!

V: I've done enough stupid things to tell what's brave and what's foolish. Hang on, I'm going to the roof to… HOLY SHIT!

S: WHAT? WHAT?

[VENNETTILLI PANS HIS CAMERA TO SHOW MULTIPLE (15) ROBOTICIZED MOBIANS]

S: Oh no… looks like another batch of dissenters.

V: I don't LIKE seeing these things!

S: I know you don't. Just take a deep breath and relax. Can you identify the bodies really quick?

V: Uh… OK… umm… No identifying markings… all physical features have been replaced with mechanical analogues… it's looking at me.

S: What?

V: The head turned to look at me…

S: Leave. Don't go into that room again.

V: Is it possible that the victim is still conscious within the shell?

S: Get out! Now!

V: Yes, ma'am.

S: Is there a door?

V: Yes.

S: Seal it.

[VENNETTILLI HITS THE DOOR CONTROL AND THE PORTAL SEALS WITH A HISS]

V: Now we have no way to the roof. The stairwell was in that room.

UKN: What's wrong?

V: Roboticized civilians.

UKN: Oh man… thanks for closing the door.

V: Something wrong?

[GUNSHOTS, RELOADING]

UKN: Lost my brother to Robotnik. He was captured in an outlaying village.

V: Jimmy, I'm sorry.

UKN: Don't be. We'll find him some day.

UKN1: Hey Human! If you're done chatting, I have troops coming up the left!

V: I'm there!

[VENNETTILLI JOGS TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BUILDING AND LAYS DOWN COVERING FIRE. A ROUND BOUNCES OFFHIS SHOULDER-PLATE WITH RICOCHET]

V: DAMN!

S: Are you OK?

V: Yeah, just a close call! And I will get the bastard who tried to take my life…

[ROBOT TARGET AT 400 METERS. VENNETTILLI FIRES TWO ROUNDS AND THE ROBOT GOES DOWN]

V: That's a bit of Terran justice for you! All seven sixty two millimeters of it!

S: You're a bunch of talk aren't you?

V: I have my moments.

[MACHINE GUNS FIRING]

V: I know those guns. It's our ride boys!

UKN1: Well it's about time!

S: Quickly, get aboard and get out of there!

V: You don't have to tell me twice!

[VENNETTILLI AND THE SCOUTS RUN DOWNSTAIRS AND TOWARDS THE DROPSHIP. TAIL GUNNERS PROVIDE COVER]

CREW CHIEF: Move it, Lieutenant!

V: I'm moving! Come on, Jimmy, Lynx!

[LYNX CLUTCHES HIS SHOULDER]

UKN1: I'M HIT! I'M HIT!

UKN: Come on, Lynx! Come on, bro!

[LYNX boards the Dropship]

V: PUNCH IT!

[KILO 778 TAKES OFF WITH GREAT SPEED]

V: We're clear. You have fun watching this?

S: I was munching on popcorn the whole time.

V: You'll be interested to hear what we have as soon as we get back!

S: Great job, Human! I'll be waiting!

[CONNECTION CLOSED]

Thank God… I thought I was going to lose them for a moment. It's so intense not being there and watching it all right in front of you… I'm glad they're alright. It'll be some time before they get back. Once they do, I'm going to get their footage analyzed… and then… the Lieutenant's getting Christmas Break. He's earned it.

The Human handled himself well in Robotropolis, even if he only went ten blocks deep. For a first time insertion that deep into the city, I think I can be safe in considering future assignments in there. Of course, I'll have to be there to hold his hand. I don't care if he HAS spent two years in the jungle fighting rebels; Robotropilis is ten times worse. I heard his voice when he saw the roboticized civilians. Those were willing converts. They just stood there… without orders. They were to remain until they were called upon by the central servers. Maybe that beacon had something to do with it. I'll have to review the scan footage and run it by Tails. Getting his input might bring us one step closer to unraveling this minor mystery.

Until then, I need to unwind. A shower or movie might do me good. I mean, I have to loosen up for Christmas Eve!

::END ENTRY::


	66. Entry 66: December 23rd, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: December 23rd, 3234<br>Entry Made 1312 (1:12 PM)

Dear Journal,

One day until the big night! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! The entire castle is ready to celebrate the holidays. The halls are decked with boughs of holly, and trees are going to be put up tomorrow! Sonic's been a real help running supplies from one side of the palace to the other, but I always warn him not to trip, since he insists on carrying two boxes at a time which really throws off his center of gravity. By my estimates, we should have the rest done tomorrow. My mother and father are also getting into the holiday spirit by personally helping set up the decorations. They've put off all meetings with foreign delegates until after the 25th, and have talked about doing a Secret Santa.

A bit of explanation because I've never given it before: Santa Claus still exists in Mobian culture, but there has been a slight change. Back when we were still evolving, the joke was that Santa Claus would be a cat by the time our ancestors reached full sapience. The Terra Novans (Early Mobian Settlers) jokingly called it Santa CLAWS, and it eventually stuck. Since there were no Humans around for around 400 years, it wouldn't make sense to have a supernatural being represented by a seemingly extinct figure. It's funny the way Santa has become something of a minor god to the feline Mobians, and they never forget it around this time of year.

I've wanted to get the Human perspective on Santa Claus, so I asked Chris. He was settling in quite well, and was helping with decorations on the West Wing.

"Hey Human." I asked him.

"Hmm?"

"Humans still have Santa Claus for Christmas?"

His eyes lit up, "Do they ever! I remember when I was a kid, I wrote him letters all the time!"

"Well, did he come from the North Pole?"

"The North Pole? Santa never came from the North Pole! There's no way people could live up there."

That took me a bit by surprise. I thought everyone knew Santa came from the North Pole. So I got curious and asked. It turns out; our ideas of Father Christmas were very different indeed. Human parents told their children that Santa Claus was a magical man that existed in a special part of the stars. He watched people all year round and judged on whether they were good or bad. On Christmas Eve, Santa stopped time so he could visit every single child on every single world where Humans existed. I guess as Humans expanded into space they had to change a few things around. I don't know if the Easter Bunny has nearly an exciting story. That must be neat though as a child to think that a magical man will bring you free gifts. It's certainly a pusher for being nice to your parents and for completing schoolwork.

"So you think that Santa came from the North Pole?"

"Yes." I said. "I thought that Humans thought the same thing!"

"Oh, that must have been a long time ago then. Things change, highness. Beliefs, holidays, and religions adapt to a new environment."

He's right you know. Things change in societies, so I am not really surprised now when I think about it. I noticed that we were still a little short on Christmas trees, so I decided to send the Lieutenant on another mission: Find us a ten footer.

I can't say that he was thrilled to go out in the cold, but he took it a lot better than I expected he would. If I remember what he said, he said something along the lines of, "You pulled me out of the fireplace to throw me into a freezer?" Funny, given the fact that only yesterday he was in the desert!

Now, he can't just go and cut down any tree you know: he has to go to special areas where cutting is legal. Mobians are very protective of our environments. It's just who we are. I don't want to make it seem cheesy or anything like that, but our attachment to the environment makes us different than the Humans. Cities spring up all over Earth, but here… you're more likely to find green.

I guess we don't have the luxury of the technology the Humans take for granted. I would kill for some of the tech they have…

But I'm getting off-topic. There are legal cutting zones where he'll be able to find a tree. Some would wonder why I would send the Human and not Sonic and there are two reasons for that: the first is upper body strength. Sonic… his strength is in speed, not lifting. If it's one thing I've noticed, is if you want something lifted, call a Human. Any Human. Secondly… I have no idea where in the world Sonic is. He's gone again, but this time I think it's more of a case that he's going on a quick run, which translates to about a continent away.

Since Sonic wasn't here, and Knuckles spoke of his duty to protect the Master Emerald back on Earth, so he's not coming. He wasn't much of a Holiday person. Echidnas celebrate cultural holidays, but none of them fall on anything we celebrate.

So, in the absence of my most eager henchmen, I think there's a little guy that might be willing to go. Tails has never even seen a tree being cut down! I think he'll enjoy going out there. The only thing is that the forecasts are calling for a _very_ cold night. It will be at least a good -25 below. Winter bites hard in Knothole.

I know those two are up to it. I mean, tomorrow's Christmas, and it isn't like I won't be helping them at all. The minute they bring it back, I will be right there with them hauling it right into position. If we need any more than the one I am personally throwing on a coat and going out with them.

::END ENTRY::

*This entire entry is followed by the short story The Chilly Night, which details this little outing.


	67. Entry 67: December 25th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: December 25, 3234<br>Entry Made 1417 (2:17 PM)

Dear Journal,

Christmas has always had conflicted stories about how the holiday started, but something that has never changed was the way our peoples have celebrated it. Christmas has always been about sharing of gifts and reconciling our love for the season.

Thanks to the valiant efforts of our resident Human, our lovable genius, and a specific royal member who went out in the cold of night to bring in another Christmas tree. It was great to have everyone together to celebrate Christmas. Now, none of us are particularly religious. I think I would be the only one that would have a service of sorts. That's not the way it works in the Ancient church.

But I'm getting sidetracked. We all woke up on Christmas Day to open presents. It was really something that we did among the Freedom Fighters. The Humans didn't really participate in our activities, so Tails went to go look for them. It turns out, the Marines were on their own in other parts of the castle having a Christmas celebration. Obviously they weren't on duty today of all days, but I thought it was a bit surprising that they chose to be among their own kind. Tails tried to look for Chris and ask him why he stayed with his own kind, but he couldn't find him among the mass of men. So he used his tails to get a hover going on to find him. The Human was in a corner of the room talking with a group of people who fought on the same world he did. They called it Talahan, and based on what I heard, it wasn't the perfect place to live. The Lieutenant was surprised he was found and answered Tails' question quite honestly. He said, "I don't feel comfortable sharing a holiday with you just yet. I'm sorry, but I just don't feel I fit in well enough to be with you guys."

Tails was a bit heartbroken, especially with the talk we had the night we brought the trees in. In a voice I think I can guess, he told the young Human, "But… I thought we were family!"

"Tails, here's something you need to learn about Humans, or rather, what you need to know about me. These men… they're my family too. Do you have a brother?"

"No. But Sally di… she does."

"Then I don't know if you can understand."

Another man spoke up. "The ancient philosophers called it 'Baptism by Fire'. When we fight, there's a bond that nothing can break. Kid, we're all brothers and sisters in this outfit. Look at his face. I think you're right, LT. I don't think the little guy understands."

"No, Gustavson… but I think I do." The Human came to a revelation. "We… I've had the privilege to fight alongside some of the bravest men and women this planet has to offer. I've met people I never thought I would, fought and bled alongside them. I think they know what it means. They are our brothers and sisters."

"I understand, sir. Will you be going?"

"Yeah. I've been a bit of a fool for a second. Not wise as a man in my position."

"No worries." The other Marine, Gustavson said. With that, the Humans went back to what they were doing.

The Lieutenant may have not been comfortable with spending a holiday with people he was not familiar with, but I think he was starting to put the past behind him. It wouldn't go easy though; he refused to take off his full uniform. We managed to get him out of that BDU jacket of his. Underneath he wore a black T-shirt with the UNSC logo stamped on the left breast. It was symbolic in a way, you know? The love of your country and world would always be at your heart.

He was certainly awkward when dealing with Christmas presents and celebration. According to him, he had not celebrated in close to five years. I had to look at it from his perspective: he treated every day as a gift because for the last two years, he had been in a warzone. He would grow out of it eventually. We would see to that.

It's just a step on the long road of his recovery. I… I think I can do it. I can't give up, and I need to know that he's willing, even if he is not aware of it.

Sonic enjoys Christmas almost as much as Tails does. He snuck mistletoe out while I wasn't looking and managed to get a few pecks in. Now, I know Sonic well, and I know that he loves new sneakers. Everything I got him was specially made to allow him to go as fast as he wants and not burn up. Tails certainly helps him with that as well. Some of the others are easy to read as well. I might not agree with Amy Rose on the best of days, but the season of giving is strong. She has a fascination with something known as a Piko-Piko hammer. The only reason I know about that is because a Human diplomat named William Watanabe told me that the hammers are big in Japanese society. They squeak as they hit and don't do any real damage. It wasn't easy, but I found one for her. She proceeded to hit Sonic over the head with it.

I received a lovely letter from Antoine regarding his travels and research for a book he's writing. I'm not really sure where he is right now, as the details are sparse, not to mention I can't pronounce some of the planet names. He assures me that he is having a wonderful time among the stars and I can't blame him. I would kill for a trip like his. I got him a watch. This wasn't just a regular watch, but a Swiss watch. And again, this wasn't just any Swiss watch, but one that could automatically adjust itself depending on what planet he was on, and what timezone he was in. That means that as long as there was a satellite in orbit, the watch could adjust itself. He hasn't often worn watches before this, so I want to get him into the habit. It could be some weeks before he actually gets it though.

Bunnie got a brand new actuator and servos. Because I know she's not a machine either, I got her a set of classical music. One thing that not a lot of people know is that she is a fan of music, concerts, and even symphonies. I've never shared this secret with anyone before, and I plan to keep it that way.

Those were some of the important ones. Other friends of mine got gifts, but due to the running around, I'm having trouble remembering who got what. Here's something nobody was expecting: I got the Human a gift too. I don't think he was expecting it at all, least of all from someone like me. His face was something I have never seen before. This was genuine surprise, but at a pleasant time I haven't seen when he's up against robots. His eyes were wide, but his eyebrows showed that he was curious.

"What's this?"

"Something for you." I simply said.

"What for?"

"For making good on your promise so far!" I joked. He got it with a laugh.

I learned something else about him that day. When he wants to be, he can be very gentle. He pulled the string away and _unfolded _the wrapping paper. He didn't even rip it. It was like he was planning to use it another day. Inside was a disc that was actually a holographic projector. He wasn't sure what it was right away so I told him.

When he tapped the power switch, a blue-green hologram of the Statue of Liberty materialized. He gazed at the thing in something I think resembled shock.

"I know that you aren't home long enough. I found a person that could make things like these specially. Chris, I know you miss New York, so I wanted something like this to be with you so you'd always have a bit of home with you. The stone in the disc is actually from the Empire State building on Earth. I'd thought you'd like it.

Finally, to seal the deal, a voice came from the disc.

"_Start spreading the news. I'm leaving today! I want to be a part of it: New York, New York!_"

"I don't know if you know the song. It was written by..."

Now it was my turn to be surprised. Suddenly, he started singing.

"_These vagabond shoes are longing to stray. Right at the very heart of it: New York, New York!_" He looked up at me with a warm smile, wiped a tear away and said, "Thank you. I never want to forget where I came from. It's Frank Sinatra by the way. What a voice." He continued to look at the thing in his hands. "I didn't get you… or anyone anything! I don't feel right!"

"It's OK. You don't need to do anything for us." Tails said. "I got you something too. Look at this!" He placed a box next to the startled young man. "Open it!" Miles urged.

Chris raised an eyebrow, and opened the box. He looked inside. "They're letters."

"They're for you." Tails said. "I think you'll like what they say."

The Lieutenant picked one up, unfolded it and looked it over. He started to read.

_Dear Mr. Christopher the Human_

_ My name is Emma. I am 8 years old and live in Knothole. I used to think that Humans were bad. My mommy and daddy used to tell me that they were bad people and that we should never be like them, but then you came and made me change my mind. My daddy went to fight Robotnik, the evil man. He wanted to stop him from hurting me and my mommy and stop him from taking us away. My daddy has been gone for a long time. Mommy was scared. But yesterday, Daddy came home for Christmas. Mommy was so happy, and I was too. Daddy said that people like you saved all of us. Robotnik's not coming back to hurt us anymore. You've saved our lives. I used to think that Humans were scary, but now I know that you are good in your heart. _

_ Merry Christmas, Mr. Human._

_ Love,_

_ Emma Stone the Hedgehog_

I never saw a smile that big on his face. It went from ear to ear. He looked at me and was almost on the verge of tears. "She said thank you! She says I saved her life! Nobody has ever said that to me before!" He leaned back in his seat and smiled. I smiled too and looked at Tails. It was a good thing some of these kids did. Credit went to Tails for going to get them anyway. People usually sent thank you notes to the Freedom Fighters for a job well done… but I think Chris needed something special. By the time he got through three of them, he actually was reduced to tears. I remember the first time that happened to me.

He kept telling us that he was going to do something to make it up to us. We kept on saying no, but he was stubborn. I think I may have made some good progress here!

Sonic and I are going for a walk in the snow where he'll give me my gift. I'm sure I'll be blown away. Knowing him, it's probably a snow life size statue of me! I never get tired of it either! I'm really glad we were able to have a nice and peaceful Christmas. Over the years, Robotnik made it difficult for us, but now that we have a moment to breathe, we can get back to having regular lives. Little Emma Stone was right, you know. The Humans did make a difference. We all did. That's the things that friends can accomplish if we stick together, face a problem head on, and make sure we see it to the end.

::END ENTRY::


	68. Entry 68: December 26th, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: December 26, 3234<br>Entry Made 2020 (8:20 PM)

Dear Journal,

Christmas has come and gone again as it always has. Another year is coming to a close and we'll start this whole song and dance over again. It's hard to believe that it's been so… quiet. There's been no explosions, no missing people, and more and more we are hearing about people who are being rescued and have been going back to their own lives. If this whole thing had come out any differently, I would call this Divine Intervention. But looking at it now, this is a direct result of cooperation and a teensy bit of luck. It's almost been over six months since the attack on Fort Acorn. Is it wrong that I still think about the people that died when I go to sleep? It's not a good thing to think about, so I'm considering seeing someone.

I shouldn't be dwelling on this. Not when we've had a wonderful Christmas Day Dinner the other day. Speaking of dinners, I had a surprise when I was wandering around the castle. Today, I heard a rustling going on in the kitchen. It sounded like people were running all over the place, but I knew that a major dinner wasn't going on. Letting my curiosity take the better of me, I poked my nose inside. A couple of the cooks were running around; I recognized most of them – Pierre, Molson and Jack were among them, but I was not expecting to see Lieutenant Vennettilli at the center of them all.

I clearly recall my ears twitching in curiosity and genuine confusion as I looked at the man. He stood at the center and gave orders as if he was still wearing his uniform, and the chefs did exactly as he asked. On the table in front of him, he had a bowl that he was mixing. Inside was a type of sauce with meat inside of it. On his right, there was a stack of other mixing pans. He was putting them all together while speaking to the other chefs. I stayed in the doorway for a few more minutes waiting about what would happen. I heard him shout to the chef, Pierre for specially prepared potatoes. The chef arrived carrying the food, which resembled small dumplings. The Lieutenant mixed this together with the sauce, and poured it in a large bowl.

"That looks good, Liuetnenat!" Molson said with a wide smile. The badger licked his lips. "Potato dumplings?"

"Gnocchi." The Human corrected him. "This is a traditional dish that my family's made. Ask anybody with Italian heritage, and they'll tell you they've had gnocchi once in their life."

"Hmm… still tastes a bit flat." Jack the terrier said. "Have you considered some more spices?"

"Let me taste." He said. He ate one of the dumplings and chewed it in thought. "You're right. What do we have for some kick?"

"I have a special sauce! Family recipe!" Molson said with a wink. Now, I know Molson well. His sauce is something of a closely guarded secret, and it'll burn the tongue of anybody not using it correctly. He retrieved an orange jar and added some to the mix. "Try this now."

Chris tried the mix again, and coughed. Clearly he wasn't ready for the wrath of the sauce. The cooks laughed heartily. Pierre slapped him on the back. "Welcome to the royal kitchen, Human!"

He swallowed and chuckled. "Oh man, this is good." He said. "This could stop a rhino in its tracks!"

"Don't you know it! We've tried!" Molson said. Again, the men laughed. One of them caught sight of me. I think it was Pierre.

"Highness! What can we do for you today?"

I put on a bemused face. "I believe you have government property in your possession, gentlemen!"

The cooks looked amongst themselves. They had no idea what I was talking about. They looked at me and asked me what I meant. The Human stepped forward. "She means me, gentlemen."

I watched as he came forward. "Spying on me, boss?"

"Just monitoring your progress. What battle plans are you up to here?"

"Getting ready to make up for the gifts I got the other day."

I explained to him that there was no need to go over the top and make us all dinner. The spirit of the season was in giving. There was no stopping the Human though.

"I didn't know you knew how to cook!" I said. It was truly a new thing I had learned from him.

"Well there's a lot of things you don't know about me! I play golf as well!"

"Why can't you ever show this side of yourself to the guys?"

"With all due respect, ma'am, I'm not paid for that. The Corps tells me to jump, and I ask how high. I only do this on my downtime; however short that is. But I make the most of it. Try this out." He handed me a bowl. "Oh man, I think Sonic would like this. It's spicy, meaty, but it's a little bit healthy, so be sure to leave that part out."

I laughed with the fork halfway to my mouth. He was right too. The very healthy stuff didn't rank very high on Sonic's diet. The more calories, the better. I put the piece of gnocchi in my mouth and chewed it. Honestly, I have never had the dish before, so it was a brand new experience. Survey says? I liked it. It was a very down home style meal that satisfied all areas of the tongue. I asked him again about his cooking skills.

"Well, my grandfather owns a restaurant in Chicago. He makes a living selling this stuff. The restaurant's been in the family for… oh man, I don't even know how long. He makes a whole bunch of meals; America, Italian, Mexican, Spanish, you name it, he makes it. I picked up a few things when I lived with him.

"You mean after your parents died."

"Yeah. I lived in Chicago for close to a year to be closer to my family, and I moved back to New York a few months before I was drafted."

"I've never been to Chicago. I haven't been to many places on Earth."

"Go to Canada." Chris suggested. "Canada's nice." For some reason I found this humorous. I decided to switch the conversation back to the interesting dish.

"Are you planning on cooking for us again soon?"

"How does New Years' sound?"

"Good actually! It's going to be a little different since things are going to be a little quieter this time around."

I finished my business in the Kitchen and left. The taste of the Italian dish was still in my mouth. I very much enjoyed the sensation of the cheese and the sauce on my lips. Some times food can be the one thing that can bring even the worst of enemies together. The Lieutenant always stressed his European heritage whenever he spoke of his love for food.

I've started to become curious about my heritage. How far can it go? Sometimes I feel like I'm rushing into things; it's as if the shock of a different world next to ours still hasn't worn off. I needed to satisfy the hunger for knowledge within me.

Aw… and speaking of hunger, I might have to take care of the literal sense as well. Maybe I can get lucky and pilfer one of Sonic's chili dogs when he isn't looking!

::END ENTRY::


	69. Entry 69: December 31st, 3234

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: December 31, 3234<br>Entry Made 2355 (11:55 PM)

Dear Journal,

Today is the 31st of December, which signals the end of the year. I thought this was an event that was only done by us, but it's clear that our new friends also celebrate this day. Tails has been very excited by this because it appears that we are going to have the New Year begin on the very same day at the very same time. It's true! There's live feed right now from Earth on the other side of the room. Many cities like New York, Paris, and a city I've never been to that's called Beijing, which is in China - which is kind of like the Dragon Kingdom. I'm not sure why this happens and I'm unsure if Tails even knows how this happens, but it's clear that some things are synched between universes, and some things are not. I mean, the Other Sally… I mean the Prime Sally is a lot younger than I am.

In every city, people were gathering around civic centers. In New York, there's a part of the city called Times Square, a humongous area with video screens, holographic statues, and so many lights it looks like midday 24/7. Here, not so much. Knothole is a fairly large city, but it was nowhere as large as Mobotropolis during its prime. We don't have fancy holograms or balls of light, but fireworks are more than enough.

We were all in the Great Hall of the castle. There were hundreds of people visiting. Humans, Mobians, and a few other races that celebrate holiday along with us. There were notably a lot of Gallvente that had citizenship within UN Space. People are drinking, laughing, and dancing around. This is one of the few occasions where I am wearing a dress, and I hate dresses. By all accounts, it was a good dress: a strapless sparkling black dress with matching black high heels. I was even able to get Sonic to dress up in a nice suit, complete with black dress shoes.

Our pet Marine was also in attendance. He wore a black dress uniform with a matching black hat. A silver eagle and anchor covered the spot on the front of the hat and on his belt buckle. A surprising number of ribbons covered one side of the coat. He may have smiled there, but the heavy training was still very much visible. He wore it in his uniform. Every little bit was meticulous and well maintained. In many ways, this Human was the exact opposite to Sonic, who was driven more by his own free will and suppressed it only when he was needed to. The Human on the other hand hides his emotions well when he wants to, and expresses them only when he is sure he won't be attacked. In the end, they were both men of instinct.

I also got to talk with non-military Humans as well. Mr. Umbakta had come by to celebrate the New Year. I welcomed him with great respect. This man taught me the ins and outs of politics in the interstellar world. He was wearing a smart black suit as well as a bow tie! I thought those things died out a long time ago! Nice to see that the tie is still well worn! I always thought people looked sharp with it on!

It's getting close to midnight now! What a year it's been! We've met new friends, made some new enemies, discovered a brand new world, and I've never seen Sonic more excited when he's seen brand new land to run through! I've seen aliens, animals, plants, entire worlds that seem nothing like Mobius. I've had a full blown conversation with _myself!_ I wonder to myself: how can I top this next year? Will I continue my tour across the stars? Wage a war against the alien Covenant? Finally get my hands on Robotnik… or think about the future? For the first time in… what feels like forever… I've finally been able to go outside and not fear for my life.

Wow. There's my New Year's resolution: Enjoy life more while it lasts. I mean, it's not every day you have peace.

What? OK! I'm coming! I'm coming! Let me get my drink and put this thing on!

::SET TO MICROPHONE MODE::

SONIC: You're bringing the pad?

SALLY: I ALWAYS record New Year's!

CHRIS: One minute to midnight!

TAILS: Oh man! I love this part!

SALLY: They look like they're really getting excited in New York!

CHRIS: Yeah… don't they? Next year you guys should celebrate there!

SALLY: I'll think about it! Sure!

ADM. ANDSWORTH: Lieutenant! Keep your eyes on that clock! I want you to mean it when you count down! Do it or you get a write up!

CHRIS: Sir!

SONIC: Where did HE come from?

SALLY: Did someone get the drop on you, Blue?

SONIC: Don't rub it in.

CHRIS: Was he being serious when he said that? God, I hope not.

TAILS: THIRTY SECONDS!

[CROWD GETS RILED UP]

SALLY: Look at the screen, Human. There are timed fireworks that shoot out the closer it gets to midnight. When the clock strikes twelve… watch.

SONIC: Man I wish Knuckles was here. Even he doesn't deserve to be alone on New Years.

CHRIS: OK kids! Here we go!

TAILS: TEN SECONDS!

ALL: NINE!

ALL: EIGHT!

ALL: SEVEN!

ALL: SIX!

ALL: FIVE!

ALL: FOUR!

ALL: THREE!

ALL: TWO!

ALL: ONE!

[TODAY IS JANUARY 1, 3235. HAPPY NEW YEAR!]

ALL: _HAPPY NEW YEAR!_

UKN: WOO HOO! ANOTHER YEAR!

UKN: Happy New Year, Sir!

UKN: Your majesties, another wonderful year of rule!

UKN: I love you, man!

SALLY: Happy New Year, Speedy!

SONIC: Happy New Year, my princess.

TAILS: Happy New Year, Aunt Sally!

SALLY: Happy New Year, big man. Human!

CHRIS: Yeah?

SALLY: Smile a little! Happy New Year, dude!

CHRIS: Yes ma'am! Happy New Year!

SALLY: Can you drop the tough guy routine? Just for a while? Gimme a hug, Human!

CHRIS: Thanks Sal.

SALLY: Happy New Year, Christopher. There's a smile! Do that a little bigger so the rest of the room can see!

CHRIS: 3235. Seems like a whole new beginning.

BUNNIE: Oh stars! I thought I would never find you, Sal!

SALLY: Looking good! Nice dress! Don't worry, we can still celebrate together! Oh! I don't know if you've met our resident Human! Bunnie, meet Lieutenant Chris James Vennettilli! Did I say that right?

BUNNIE: Oh… well it's nice to meet you! Honestly, I thought you Humans would be taller!

SALLY: Bun!

CHRIS: No, we're about the same size. Were you roboticized?

SALLY: Lieutenant!

BUNNIE: Well, it seems we got this conversation off to an interesting start.

CHRIS: Well let's fix it. Are you a Freedom Fighter?

BUNNIE: Why yes I am! Your little group put most of us out of work.

CHRIS: Oh. I apologize. I never knew the Freedom Fighters were-

BUNNIE: I'm joking; don't worry! Actually I'm grateful that you took Robotnik off our hands. I hear stories about you now and then. You made a ruckus in Mercia last I heard.

CHRIS: I'm… not particularly fond of what happened in Mercia.

BUNNIE: Oh… now I guess it's my turn to apologize. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, shugah.

CHRIS: Beg your pardon?

SALLY: It's just something she does to people she feels comfortable with. Hey, another smile! Keep it up and you might just be a true Human after all!

BUNNIE: I know how it feels. I mean, I had a grandfather who was in the Royal Military. I learned a lot from him.

CHRIS: Funny you should mention grandfathers. My ship's CO would LOVE to meet you, especially with that awesome accent of yours!

SALLY: Why don't we all get better acquainted! I think that's enough for now. Oh Antoine! Is that you! Tell me about your trip! What have you done with your hair?

::END RECORDING::

::END ENTRY – BEGINNING TIME-LOG: YEAR 3235::


	70. Entry 70: January 3rd, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: January 4th, 3235<br>Entry Made 0940 (9:40 AM)

Dear Journal,

We have a new mission!

It's something that I thought we'd never have been asked to do, and I am very excited about it. We've had a couple of days to get off our feet, but as of late, someone has decided we should be out there. It all started yesterday when we were instructing a few Humans about how to deal with Mobian weapons and equipment. We were out in the snow at the range near the castle grounds. These Humans were green, and I mean that in the sense that they had very little experience as Marines. Is Mobius now a new training center? I was not told about that!

Anyway, we were showing them some devices such as personal shields and electric chargers that allowed the ability for soldiers to run on walls for short periods of times to cross gaps or even walls if they feel like it. The Lieutenant and Andsworth came to me.

"Good Afternoon, Highness." He said. "Having fun out here with the new recruits?"

"Yes, Admiral. I'm putting them through the ringer."

"I thought you'd like to see this." He handed me a folder which I opened up. I made sure to grip the papers so they wouldn't blow away in the wind. It was an order form that told us that we were going through the Stargate.

I was sure I was imagining things at first, but the Admiral set me straight: We were going through the Stargate to Mobius Prime.

I shuddered. It was one thing to stare through a transdimensional portal. It was another thing to walk right through it onto a parallel world. I had the opportunity of chatting with the Prime Mobians, but the entire thing was a bit off putting. I mean, our Sonic got so jealous of Prime Sonic that he ran away and wasted resources trying to get him back. The orders stated that he would not be joining us anyway.

"What's the mission?"

"They want help."

"Help? What could they possibly require help with?"

"We don't know. Her Highness, the Prime Princess Sally has requested you personally, as well as a group of people. We're picking a small team to go through. Of course, I'm sending elements of OMEGA through the gate."

"Who are the other team members?"

"Members of the 1st Force Recon."

I didn't know who those were. I pretended like I did.

Vennettilli spoke, "First Force usually has dibs on going on recon and assault missions before all others. They've requested the job." He pronounced 'requested' with a bit of disgust.

I was about to ask why he would feel like that when the flag officer responded, "The Lieutenant may feel that 1FR are snobs who wear their military history on their sleeve; and he's not far off the mark, but we are to show them respect on this operation. Clear?"

"Yes, sir." I was a Marine now. The minute I accepted the mission, my crown was back at home. Time to go to work.

So, here I am today, walking through the hallway leading to R&D. Tails is on the controls opening the gate to the Prime Universe. We're the test run. They're… confident that it will all work out. The small gate was based on the design of the larger one in space, so it was only a matter of compressing tech. What most people don't know, according to Tails is that the Small Gate is like an iceberg: We're only seeing about 10% of the picture.

Anyway, I'm using the datapad as a mission recorder, so it'll categorize anything we find important during our job. I'll just stuff it in one of my ammunition packs. A key thing we want to remember is not to scare the locals. We were never there. I could tell from our first appearances that they thought our Humans were Overlanders. If that was the case, I would have kept them from coming… but since we're about the same height, we would cause alarm regardless. We would deal.

Well… here we go!

[Entering R&D Laboratory]

SALLY: I'm ready to go. Lieutenant, what's your status?

VENETTILLI: Green, Highness.

S: Bunnie? You're coming with us?

BUNNIE: Well, not officially, shugah. I', just along for the ride!

S: Well, you want some armor or something? There are some bad guys on that side of the gate.

V: She told me she didn't want any. She seemed fine with what she was wearing.

S: You sure?

B: I'm always sure. I can handle myself with my prosthetics.

S: Your call. Tails, how are you doing?

MILES: Totally psyched! I've been making sure the connection ports have been firing on all cylinders for the past two hours. We've got Chaos Energy on tap just for this Event!

S: Where are we getting it from?"

M: Beamed right from the gate overhead. Turns out we can rig the dishes to take Chaos Energy instead. The levels are off the charts! I can keep this gate open indefinitely!

S: We'll see about that. Where's out friends from 1FR?

V: Taking their time… as usual. What a bunch of prettyboy…

[DOOR SLAMS OPEN]

UKN: I'm Major Oscar Beller, Marine First Force Recon.

V (aside): Right on time.

BELL: And who are YOU? Identify yourself, Marine!

V: Erm... First Lieutenant Vennettilli, 182nd MID & OMEGA

BELL: won eight too, huh? Don't you have a few units to back up or pull out of a fire?

(I could swear that Chris is blushing)

V: Sir, I am here to provide any assistance I can.

BELL: I know you are. You will do whatever I tell you. I tell you to punch yourself in the face, I expect you to ask me how many times, how hard, and until how much blood comes out. Clear?

V: Yes sir.

BELL: What's this OMEGA bullshit?

V: I'm part of an experimental unit.

BELL: Oh! That's right! I heard about people like you working with the Furries.

(If I punch off Beller's jaw, will I go to jail for that? Strictly 'self-defense' of course)

V: The Mobians are fine people; able fighters and knowledgeable on Dr. Robotnik's actions. It's an honor to serve with them.

(Way to kiss ass, Human)

BELL: Whatever. We ready to go, kid?

M: Yes, Major! Let me just punch up the activation sequence.

BELL: Take your time.

[DARK NEUTRINO/CHAOS ENERGY SURGE DETECTED. SPATIAL RUPTURE!]

BELL: Oh man. Look at that.

S: It's just like the one upstairs, only about a thousand times smaller.

BELL: Radiation levels?

M: Negligible

BELL: Then we're going in. Form up on me, Marines!

V (whisper): See? What did I tell you? This guy's a tightass and a jerk!

S: You know what? He's the _definition_ of arrogance. He's even worse than you!

V: He's worse than _Sonic_.

S: I didn't even know that was possible.

B: Sal, less backtalk. He'll only come back to shout at us.

(The LT is making the 'crazy' sign while looking at Tails. He points at Beller to get his point across. Miles is nodding. I think the idea is unanimous: Beller's an _ass_)

V: Are we going in formation?

B (whisper): Don't give him ideas!

BELL: What a wonderful idea, Lieutenant! I want a tight wedge formation going into the gate. Hold until otherwise stated!

B: Ugh…

S: At least let me take point, Major. I've had the most contact with these people. It'll make it much more comfortable for them.

BELL: …Alright, agreed.

S: Bunnie, get over here next to me. Lieutenant, take the left. Major, on the right.

V: Aye aye, ma'am.

BELL: Holding…

S: Ready to go down the rabbithole, guys? No turning back now.

[[STATIC BUILDUP! ERROR! TERMINATING PLAYBACK! SAVING MESSAGE & REBOOTING UNIT!]]

::END ENTRY::


	71. Entry 71: January 3rd, 3235 Pt2

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: January 4th, 3235 (ENTRY 2)<br>Entry Made 1000 (10:00 AM)

Dear Journal,

**OPERATION PRIMETIME  
>(D + 00:05:00)<br>(Local Time 1421 EST)  
><strong>

VENNETTILLI: Oh man… I feel weird

UKN: They're here!

[Speaker Identified as Princess Sally (Prime)]

PRIME SALLY: You're here! I knew you would come!

SALLY: Relax. We can help you—

BELL: I am Major Oscar Beller of the UNSC Marine Corps, Force Recon.

S: Major, your introduction isn't necessary. What's wrong?

B: Sally girl! Is she _you?_ She looks _adorable!_

SP: Bunnie? Is that you? You're… you're so tall! And your face! It's… different!

V: Stay focused. Your Highness… um… you sent a distress call specifically for us. How can we assist you… whoa… I really don't feel good.

PS: What's the matter? Are you alright?

V: No. I feel sick.

(Well this is great. I have a man on one side getting nauseous, a stuck up jerk on the other, and my best friend who's judging how 'kawaii' my doppelganger is!)

PS: Lieutenant, right? That's your first name?

V: No… but right now, beggars can't be choosers. Someone give me a sitrep before I pass out.

PS: Sitrep?

S: Situational Report; an update.

PS: Right. OK! Let me be straight with you: the reason I called you is that Dr. Eggman's got some sort of device with him that we have no knowledge of.

BELL: You're referring to Dr. Julian Kintobor?

PS: Nobody's called him that for a long time.

V: He goes by Robotnik in our world.

PS: Things must really be different. Lieutenant, can you walk?

V: I'll try. Which way out of here?

PS: Follow me. Actually, Tails was working the controls. Do you have an idea on what's having to Mr. Lieutenant?

V: My name… aw forget it. What's going on with me?

PRIME MILES: Are you feeling dizzy?

V: Plenty.

PM: Any blurred vision?

BELL: Yeah, I have some. What's wrong with us?

PM: Well… if I'm right, nothing. You should be clearing up soon.

V: Well, why?

PM: I have a theory that individuals not native to a particular zone might have effects akin to nausea or dizziness. You're adjusting to a reality that isn't your own. Your bodies are taking in sensory information and changing to adapt.

V: That's actually the straightest explanation I ever heard.

BELL: How come these guys aren't feeling anything wrong?

PM (shrugs): Some are better at adapting than others.

PS: Can you please follow me? We can discuss the job we'd like you to do somewhere private. I'd really appreciate it if as little people knew you were here.

S: Why?

PS: Well, some people might notice if you just came out swinging. Not really subtle, and then we have to explain why we have Overlanders in our service.

S: Excuse me? Overlanders?

PS: Oh please. Nobody will expect to believe that five foot Mobians exist in this world. Remember? We have to go through evolution naturally unlike you cheaters.

S: Intel. Now.

PS: OK. Have a seat at this table. We have pictures at what we believe to be an archway of some sort. We think he might be building his own portal.

V: Do you have any further intelligence?

PS: Not extensively. We're not exactly sure how he was able to gather information on it in the first place.

B: Have you checked for recorders in the gate room?

PS: No… we haven't. How would he have been able to get them in first off?

V: I've found through personal experience that crazy finds a way.

S: Do you have a location?

PS: As of our last sighting? Yes. Look at the map. It seems that the gate is located at…

S: Looks like the Badlands

PS: Correct. I wasn't aware our geography was similar.

S: You'd be surprised.

PS: I'm curious. Where did you… Humans… say you were from?

V & BELL: Earth.

V: You know: third rock from the sun?

BELL: The Blue Marble?

V: Mostly Harmless?

BELL: The Motherworld?

V: With respect sir, let's end this.

BELL: I won, you know.

S: Listen, ignore them. Please. If this gate thing's in the badlands, we're going to need transport. Do you have a means for getting us there?

SP: We'll find you an aircraft.

V: At least we're not walking.

SP (smirking): Don't give me ideas

B: Hold on… you're the Freedom Fighters. Why on Mobius would you need us for this? Can't you handle this on your own?

SP: Maybe we aren't so superior after all. I think it's fair once in a while… to ask for help.

S: Oh I wish we brought Sonic along after all. He would have needed to hear that.

V: I agree. I think it would have done him some good.

BELL: Who now?

V: Long story. It'll be in the debriefing.

S: By the way, Princess, we'll be setting secondary clocks while we're here. What day is it?

SP: Day 230

S: What?

SP: It's Day 230.

V: Oh give me a break. You don't have a calendar here?

SP: It IS our calendar! It's Day 230, 3235!

BELL: Can you tell us if it's at least what the day of the week is?

SP: Day of the… week?

BELL: That's it. I'm out. (Beller stands to leave)

V: Wait! I got it! Day 230 is August 17th! Oh, it's a Friday!

S: Oh, thank God. I was relieved. I mean, I thought it was a Wednesday instead.

SP: You people are weird.

[PAUSE RECORDING FORWARD TIMESTAMP **D + 00:35:15**)

[LOCATION: AIRBASE]

We were walked through the castle. It was much different than the one I was used to. It was clearly not as high tech. It felt odd with no Navy personnel, no diplomats, and _very short Mobians_ walking around. I had to remind myself though: this was normal height, and we were the monsters to them. One guard almost had a heart attack and reached for his weapon, but froze as soon as the Lieutenant placed his hand on his gun. The poor guy started jabbering incoherently. Chris made no comment except for suggesting, 'Fire this man' To Sally Prime. I think she considered the suggestion. Nobody made any comment about us, and strangely enough, we didn't see any other Freedom Fighters on the way to the Hangar. When we were there, an aircraft with two propellers on its wings and a military paintjob was waiting for us. A few surprised Mobians looked our way, but no major attention was given.

SP: It's not much, but it will get you there.

V: Oh wow, this is one of those propeller planes! You only see these in the Colonies!

S: Seriously?

V: Yeah, usually you see turbines, jets, SCRAM jets, that sort of propulsion, you know?

SP: So… Earth never became Mobius in your world?

BELL: Nope. Still standing strong after everything the universe threw at us.

SP: Can I go?

S: To Earth? You aren't ready for that.

SP: Why not?

S: Just trust me. You need to get used to your world first. I made the mistake; I nearly fell into shock. I think it might kill you!

SP: Aw…

S: We'll talk about it another time.

SP: Right. Anyway, the pilot will know where to go. We have parachutes that you will used to get to the ground. We'll try to keep the Badniks off your back.

B: Through what means?

SP: Leave that to us. Sonic, Bunnie… our Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor and the rest of us will be backing you up. You just won't see us.

BELL: Alright people. This is it. Helmets on. Seal your visors and polarize.

(As soon as I locked my helmet, I was identical looking to Vennettilli and Beller. Bunnie was the only one that stood out. I could see that the Prime Sally slowly backed up as if she was afraid of us. Christopher stepped forward.)

V: Want my sidearm? I've fought those things before. They're tough. I have a few more mags if—

SP: I think we can hold out own without _those things_.

V: Hey, suit yourself.

S: Not a gun person?

SP: Nope.

S: Things really are different here. I'd almost like to trade places.

(We boarded the plane and had a seat. The pilot didn't dare make eye contact with us. I think he was scared witless of the mutants in the backseat of his plane. This was as primitive as it got while still being useful. This plane must have been used in the Great War on this Mobius.)

PILOT: We're off the ground in three minutes. Get those chutes on to be ready. As soon as we're over the drop area, I'll let you know.

S: No problem.

PILOT: Yeah…

S: I'm cutting it here. No need for this thing to get needlessly destroyed.

::END ENTRY::


	72. Entry 72: January 4th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: January 4th, 3235<br>Entry Made 2222 (10:22 PM)

OPERATION PRIMETIME  
>(D + 36:22:14)<br>(Local Time 0043, Day 321, 3235)

Dear Journal,  
>This day has been something that has challenged what I see as reality. It's been a major existential moment for me the minute I looked upon my Doppelganger. I know that she was a different person, but it just felt so strange and so off to see someone who was you… except different.<p>

This Mobius is… again, similar to ours, but different. At the same time, there is very little to suggest that Earth has ever had an influence on the culture. Our Mobius uses symbols, cultural references, movies, even religions that have been a result of our seeding from Earth all those centuries ago. I haven't done much reading into their culture, but the Primes evolved here on their own without guidance. Everything they did was on their own. We cheated.

The pilot of the plane we were in was nearly terrified of us. You would expect that a soldier like him would be used to seeing scary things in his life, but he refused to make eye contact with us for the most part. With the exception of Bunnie, all of us looked like armored up Overlanders. It was like a nightmare for him. About an hour and a half into the flight he had the courage to ask us, "So, who are you guys anyway?"

Christopher answered, "We're friends. There's no need for you to be afraid."

"Are you Overlanders?" We all knew this question was coming though.

Beller asked, "What's an Overlander?"

The pilot looked around at us. I think he was a bear, much like the castle guards they had here. "What do you mean? Those are you! Right?"

I told Beller to hold out his hand and show the pilot all of his fingers. He did so without question and wiggled them around for extra visibility. This seemed to calm down the pilot, but I think that it may have raised even more questions.

"So… you're not Overlanders… what are you?

"Classified." Vennettilli said.

"Can I at least see your faces?"

"Permission to take my helmet off, sir?" Chris asked with an air of sarcasm to Beller.

"Yeah, go ahead. I'll take mine off too."

Beller and the Lieutenant unsealed their helmets and looked at the pilot and ensured that he got a good look at them.

"You're not Overlanders." He said with newfound confidence in his words.

"How do you know?" Chris asked him.

"I can feel it, you know? You just don't seem… cruel."

"Well there's something I can live with." Beller nodded.

"Do you have some sort of skin condition or something?" the bear asked.

Chris seemed to have caught the joke about his lack of 'fur'. He chuckled for a second. "Ah, no. This is how most of us usually look." Beller unfortunately did not get the joke as quick, and actually had to have Chris explain it to him.

A few minutes later, the pilot asked us another question. He seemed to open up to us after his initial scare. "What are those things on your back?"

"Rifles." Beller spoke simply.

"A rifle… that's a gun, right?"

Beller looked at the pilot as if this Mobian was stupid. I myself found it a bit odd that someone with civilization would not know what a firearm looked like. Just what did they fight their wars with? Bows and arrows?

Chris unhooked the gun from the magnetic straps on his back. "This is an MA815 Assault Rifle. This is a weapon of war."

"I… don't like it."

The Human cocked his head. He wasn't sure how to react to that. To hear a soldier tell him to his face that he hated the tool of war was outstanding. I mean, warriors were people too, and the only reason they did what they did was because it was their job. I've had the… misfortune… of witnessing individuals that thirst for blood. It's horrible.

"You mean you won't use it." The Lieutenant asked.

"I wouldn't lay a finger on it. Ever since that incident years ago with a royal family member, no form of firearm has been in the hands of our military."

"What incident?"

"It was a while ago, before the war. A young boy was playing with an Overlander child. The Overlander was messing around showing off his fancy death machine. He tried to shoot a bird but the prince blocked the shot and was killed."

I found myself saying, "Shoot all the jay birds you like, but it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

The Lieutenant wanted to know what I meant. He's never read that book? It's a classic! Of course, I knew exactly why this prince died. He was protecting nature. Obviously this Overlander was showing off and wasn't attempting to hunt anything. The boy was a hero, whoever he was.

Beller said, "Your effective strength isn't too great then."

"We've won wars in the past."

"Yeah, but using swords and knives?"

"Better alternative than guns."

"Does this thing have autopilot?"

The pilot clicked the command and got up to face Beller. Immediately, the Major  
>drew his knife and was at the Mobian's throat while kneeling. "MAJOR!" I cried out.<p>

"You're looking right into my eyes. The moment is personal between you and I." I attempted to move, but then I realized he wasn't going to actually hurt him. "Suppose I win. Suppose I slit your throat. I have the honor of watching the light leave your eyes and you get the chance to expire on my blade. It's the last thing you'll ever do. It's emotional. It's sensitive. It's… almost poetic in a Draconian way."

"I… see your point." The pilot breathed. He did in fact fog up the blade just as Beller had stated.

"Still think guns are a bad idea for your military? Or would you rather every encounter come to this. Just remember this, bear: you might abide by your no-gun ban, but rest assured that your enemies won't." He sheathed the knife on his shoulder hilt and went to sit down near the closed jump door.

The pilot was mortified as he was basically an inch within his own life. I asked Beller just what he had done, and he looked at me to say, "You think he's the only one that's been in that situation? You think he's the only one that was an inch from meeting God? Take a look at this. He pulled his shirt collar down to reveal a long scar along the side of his neck. "I've gotten a little closer to Him than I'd like."

The pilot told us that we were over the jump zone. With a quick leap, Me, Bunnie, the Lieutenant and the Major soared away from the plane as it sped into the sky. I've done a jump like this once before, so I had an idea what to expect. We were at about 5,000 feet. Not too high, but it was plenty for a parachute jump. At about seven hundred feet above the ground we pulled our ripcords. Bunnie gave a couple quick bursts of her jet boots to slow her down a bit faster. Every single one of us touched down without incident.

"Princess, do a scan. Where are we?" Beller asked. Immediately, he was in charge.

"Well we're in the badlands, no doubt."

"What's so special about this place?" Chris asked.

"Human, this was where the war was fought." Bunnie informed. "The Great War."

"Right, this little bout with these Overlander guys I keep hearing about." Beller noted.

"You know about our Great War, right?" Chris asked.

"No." I told him honestly.

"That was the name for World War I. There was no bigger war before it. All of Europe was engulfed in fire. Mostly France though. If this was what you call 'Great', then you got lucky."

I gave a sad smile. "I don't think I would call what we went through 'lucky'."

"Better than us." He simply ended.

We were only given basic directions. What we were looking for was a cave or a group of buildings. The badlands was a large place though. There was green here and there, but there was a whole lot more grey, black, and in a few places, stained red earth. This was starting to feel familiar to me.

"Wow." Was all the Lieutenant could manage.

"Princess, did you do a scan?"

"I CAN'T, Major! There aren't any SATELLITES IN ORBIT!" I clenched my hands. Beller knew that it was pointless to continue, and instead called the Lieutenant over to talk about the situation. Bunnie walked over and asked me if there was any way we could get to where we needed to go. That's where our answer came in.

A sonic boom rolled over the land. I knew what it was as soon as I heard it. Within a second, a blue hedgehog sped up to us. It was Sonic, but not the one I knew. Like all the others, he was shorter, his face was different… and just like the last time I saw him, had an air of cockiness that our Sonic couldn't even come close to replicating.

"Oh cool! Looks like I got here just in time!" he called out. "Hey, you're that other Sally I saw a while back. How's the weather up there?"

I had to giggle. He had the same charm though. He greeted Bunnie in the same way. "I feel like a kid again." He honestly told us. Beller walked over and addressed Sonic Prime.

"Are you our guide?"

"I guess so. Follow me, guys. I'll get you there no problem."

I asked where my double was. She was coming, but a bit slower through other means of transport. I assumed this was another plane. "Call me crazy, but couldn't you tackle this yourself? I mean, you being the Hero of Mobius and whatnot."

"We don't need freedom fighters on this one. We need soldiers."

As soon as we cleared a ridge, I saw exactly what he meant. A large collection of buildings sat in the blasted earth, a bit too clean to be here over the past twenty years. It reminded me of the Overlanders at first glance, but what got me was the activity surrounding it. Trucks were parked near the side of the building, and people were moving all over the place. On the backs of the trucks were metal bars, piping, and crates that we couldn't read at this distance.

"What is THIS?" Beller asked.

"Eggman's work. Look at the crates. They have his ugly mug on them." Sonic Prime spat. "That bozo's gone out of his way to construct… something in there that got the attention of a few crazies."

"Define 'crazies', shugah." Bunnie put forth.

"Other countries who might find some of Eggman's views… interesting."

"Declare war! They are allying themselves with a known terrorist!" Vennettilli demanded.

"You DON'T GET IT, do you? We don't declare war! We're not doing it… not again."

"So call in a black op, get some deniable operations in place and if it's a wash, say it never happened!"

Sonic smiled and pointed at the young man. "You're the deniable operation; our 'black op'. You were never here."

Beller had his turn to laugh. "Ohoho. That little bastard got you good! OK, we'll need to stake out at this area covering the camp. We can survey, analyze patrol routes, and we can even jack into their radio frequencies if they have them. We can figure out who these guys are and what they're doing here."

I agreed with everything Beller had said. Now he was thinking like a Marine. We had to hunker down and do a little bit of spy work. Sonic Prime promised us that he would stay with us until we were ready to begin. As night began to fall, I ordered Beller and Vennettilli to watch the compound with binoculars while we were setting up a basic tent system.

"So…" Sonic Prime asked me, "Are you and I… together in the world you're in?"

"Well, yes we are..."

"You sound like there's trouble."

"Not really but… I'm still finding my place out there, but now I've got a whole other universe to make a choice. It's not easy to figure out your future… or if you can save everyone you can."

::END ENTRY::


	73. Entry 73: January 5th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: January 5th, 3235<br>Entry Made 0830 (8:30 AM) 

**OPERATION PRIMETIME  
>(D + 46:30:12)<br>(Local Time 1052, Day 232, 3235)**

Dear Journal,

This is a status update on our mission. Technically, our work here is done, but we are to remain until ordered back through the gate. Here's what went on since my last entry:

It was dark, very dark. Our insertion had to be by night in order to show as little detection as possible. With the exception of my personal trek at Brunaji, I don't believe that I have ever been on a night-time operation. Of course there _was_ that mission back in Megaopolis, but I think that was just a very bad storm.

The Lieutenant and Beller made absolutely no movement for close to four hours. They were on the ridge looking at targets through the binoculars. Chris had the crazy idea to snap the things in two and use half of them as a makeshift scope for the gun. Interestingly, Beller agreed to this. On the count of three, they pulled apart the binoculars. Thankfully, they had a spare left behind just in case they needed to use it.

Bunnie thought that it was funny to see them pull apart an expensive device for a simple purpose, at which Chris countered by saying that they would improvise to get a tactical advantage.

You know, that reminds me: we were barely given any idea of whether these engagements were going to take place at long range or close quarters. Then of course I remember that in the Prime universe, these terms have little meaning to these people. Wars are not fought at ranges of 500 meters. Hell, they don't even USE meters here! They use a strange measuring unit called 'marks' to measure height and 'stone' to measure weight. Not very versatile if you ask me. I'm perfectly fine measuring distances with meters, kilometers, feet, miles, whatever I feel comfortable with. I think the guys figured this out the hard way. Sonic Prime decided to check up on them. He went prone on the lip of the ridge.

"What's up guys?" He asked.

"We're scouting." Beller simply said. The Major made a mark on a sheet of paper to the right of his gun.

"If you're scouting, shouldn't you be moving?"

"Actually, this is called 'reconnaissance'. We're watching from a distance."

"You're not gonna shoot them, are you?" Sonic Prime asked. I could tell that he was a bit agitated and maybe worried about that possibility."

"Sometimes, Sonic…" Chris began, with his eye close to the makeshift scope, "We don't have to take a shot to do our job well." Chris pulled back on the bolt and a cartridge popped from the chamber. He picked up the bullet and showed it to the Prime.

"You know what this is? This is a bullet."

"I know. It's for guns, right?"

"This one? Yeah. That was to show you that I had one of these in the chamber ready to fire. But, we're not going to do that. Shooting is only as a last resort. You see that guy over there?"

"Yeah." The hedgehog answered. His night vision was just about as good as mine.

"He's about two hundred meters from us."

"Wait… what's a meter?"

"Oh, you cannot be serious." Beller groaned. "How do you measure distance?"

"Paces."

"Ok, you know what, that works. I know how far a pace is." Chris actually said. "A meter and a half, right?"

"You're saying it, not me." The Prime shrugged.

"OK!" Chris said. "So that guy is about a hundred and thirty paces away." He pointed to the patrolling Mobian. "He moves every twenty minutes or so to a new location. When he moves, we move to where he used to be. Then, we make a choice."

The Major piped up and explained that he had marked about every guard on location plus sketched their patrol route, not to mention marked it on our HUDs for easy access. Sonic Prime was confused by all of these developments. "Somebody speak Mobian here."

"Basically, we know where they will all be. We can sneak past them without alerting them."

Sonic shrugged. "I could run past them."

I countered. These guys seemed too smart for that. Guard routes, automatic weapons, advanced military base, I'd be surprised if they didn't have a lockdown procedure just in case someone like Sonic happened to walk in the front door. I explained that if they had sensors to detect rapid air pressure change, they'd lock him in a compartment and flush it with cyanide gas. One dead hedgehog coming up.

Sonic however, didn't seem to be fazed by the possibility of his own death. He _was_ cockier than our Sonic. However, he realized that this would bring attention to us, not to mention give Robotnik time he needed to move whatever he had out of this facility. He decided to go with our analysis.

It occurs to me now that sending Bunnie to scout from the air would be bad as well, as the exhaust from her jet boots would be visible from the ground. We would have been sending her to her death by doing that.

Right on cue, we saw a flashlight in the distance. Vennettilli was up with his rifle raised at the flashlight. However, Beller grabbed his barrel and forced it lower. "Lieutenant! She's green! I marked her before we left!"

I could see what the Major was talking about. Sally Prime had finally decided to join us. She jogged across the blasted surface of the Badlands carrying a flashlight, a couple pouches on her vest, but nothing else. Not even a uniform or camouflaged clothing. She did have a small sword at her side though.

She saw the weapons pointed at her and she slowed down. True to Beller's word, Sally Prime showed up as a yellow dot on our motion trackers.

"Good evening." She said. "Sorry I'm late. I had to land the jet a couple miles away."

"At least they use miles." Beller grumbled.

"Did I miss anything?" the Prime asked, a bit confused with Beller's words.

"Nothing important." I told her. "We're about to make a move."

"You sure? Once we get down there, it's going to be rough.

"We'll keep it quiet if we can." Beller announced. He took out a suppressor and clipped it on the end of his rifle. We fire only if fired upon. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" All of us (not counting the Primes) said quietly.

So we were on the move. Three Marines, one cyborg, and two Primes. I don't think the enemy fully understood what was going to happen.

"Rabbot, we'll need you to knock out any enemies we can't slip past."

"Consider it done!" She nodded. She also cracked her knuckles, which I thought was amazing considering the ones in her prosthetics were made of titanium.

"Lieutenant, keep your eyes open. I want your weapon up, but do not fire unless I give you a direct order to."

"Yes sir." He saluted.

"What would you like us to do?" Sally Prime asked.

"Stay close to us. Sonic can act as a distraction as we get close and neutralize."

Sally Prime folded her arms, "I assume by neutralize you mean 'knock out', right?"

Beller told my double that he did indeed mean 'knock out'. He kept that perfectly clear.

So, we ran down the ridge onto the floor of what appeared to be a large crater. Whether it was an object from space or a bomb that formed it, I'm not sure, but it was a bit imposing to be surrounded on all sides. It was very dark, even for us. Beller, Vennettilli and I had a Heads Up Display to help us locate one another, but Bunnie and the Primes didn't have that benefit. This was why we asked them to stay in the middle. I was on point and the Humans had the rear.

We had to move slowly through the patrol routes. Thanks to the Major's marking, we could track and time patrol shifts. Getting through the first line would be beyond simple. This was where we wanted to have a friendly talk with one of these guards. We picked one the closest to us: a vulpine of some sort; I couldn't tell with this light level. The three of us Marines snuck around in the dark. By the time he saw us… well, listen for yourself:

/Begin Playback:

BELLER: Stand by for contact.

SALLY: Understood. You want me to grab him, sir?

BELLER: Affirmative.

CHRIS: Let's talk to the guy.

[RUSTLING]

TARGET: Huh? Who's there? (Charges bolt on weapon).

[Sally grabs Vulpine from behind and covers mouth and nose]

SALLY: You so much as _whimper_ or bite my hand in any way, I put this through your neck. Come with us.

[Vulpine is led away at knifepoint]

SALLY: You're just a grunt, so we won't waste time worrying about who you are. But you might as well tell us what you're doing working with Dr. Robotnik.

VULPINE: Wh… what _are_ you?

BELLER: Your nightmare realized.

VULPINE: You're going to kill me!

CHRIS: Cooperate, and we'll consider keeping you alive.

VULPINE: We're just hired protection.

SALLY: Liar. We were told you're from another country on the continent allying yourself with Robotnik.

VULPINE: I'm telling you the truth! I'm not from the Kingdom though, neither are any of my friends!

BELLER: Well that's wishful thinking: recruit citizens you're NOT actively in war with.

BUNNIE: What's he offering you? Cash?

VULPINE: A… promise.

BUNNIE: Yeah, but _what?_

VULPINE: I… I don't know.

BELLER: This guy is useless. Got anything else to tell us before we dispose of you?

VULPINE: Wait! Wait, no! Don't! He's building something in there! Something big. I'm not sure what it is! None of us are sure, but it's something he doesn't want us to see!

BELLER: A weapon? A spaceship? A damned VENDING MACHINE?

VULPINE: I'm sorry…

BELLER: Rabbot.

[Bunnie punches the Vulpine in the face, knocking him out]

: Whoa! What did you do that for?

CHRIS: So he can't shout for help.

: You didn't kill him, did you?

SALLY: Relax, he's only knocked out. We can feel a pulse.

: He's from a small nation on the West Coast. They're not fighters though… Eggman must be strapped for recruits.

BELLER: Alright people, only half an hour until the guards shift. We have that long until our cover's blown. Maybe we can find this thing Kintobor's building. Assume it's a weapon and take according action.

CHRIS: Which is?

BELLER: Blowing it up, of course. Move it out!"

/END PLAYBACK

Well, that was the little conversation we had with our friend the Vulpine. I was thankful we only knocked him out. Off the record, I was terrified about this whole operation. Remember back in my entry when I was doing HRT training? I said I was scared to possibly shoot a living thing and not a cold inorganic machine. Well, we had living, breathing people down there. They might have been different from those we know, but they were still people nonetheless. I would be as more willing to shoot them as I would shoot myself. I couldn't do it, but I dare not speak of it to the Major. Not this late into the mission.

We got into the facility with no detection. Both of the Primes served as distractions. Sonic Prime created noises far away to attract some of the guards. Only on one other occasion we had to knock out a patrolling Mobian. Chris snuck up behind the poor guy and smashed him in the back of the head. He hit the ground and did not move. I thought for a second that the Human killed him on accident, but he still had a pulse. The Primes decided to ask _again_ why we did what we did.

If I remember correctly, the Prime Sally asked me, "Why are you so violent?"

Chris wheeled around, crouched, and growled, "_Because it's our JOB! _You have a problem with our methods, you can walk away now."

Sally Prime folded her arms, "Are all you Humans violent, bloodthirsty beasts?"

Beller whispered, "Only when pestered repeatedly."

My double shut up. Sonic Prime on the other hand came up to him and said, "You're acting like real jerks, you know that?"

Beller then looked to the Hedgehog. "Hey, you want my job? You want to go around the galaxy killing aliens, not being able to see your wife and child for up to ten months at a time? You want to lose your humanity and become a shell who's only purpose in life is to take others? I haven't even been on Earth for 15 months, 3 weeks and 2 days. I've counted. My last plate of real Saskatoon pancakes… I can't even remember. How old is Maggie now?" That last one he seemed to be asking himself. "You don't know how much you can take your freedom for granted. Me, the Lieutenant there, and now the Princess… we gave that up for the greater good, because there are things that some people… that _you_ _won't_ do."

Wow.

It was there that I changed my thoughts on Oscar Beller. He might have still been an egotistical jackass, but at least he had a heart in there.

Maybe I felt uncomfortable around the Primes. They approached problems differently. They frowned on any form of violence we used, but they asked us to do this in the first place. Maybe they knew that they couldn't do it. Maybe they knew they needed help but didn't want to admit it. Contrary to what some might think of this situation, the woman that was standing next to me was an entirely different person. We were disagreeing, and weren't getting anywhere. The only thing we could do was continue forward, deeper into this facility.

I can tell you what I can about the building. It was clearly of Overlander design since, well, I've seen Mobian technology in this universe; there's really only two forms of architecture that would be very easy to tell apart. Anyway, the building _appeared _to be fairly new considering the war in the area. It looked like it could be made for Overlanders arriving tomorrow, and I let everyone know it. From that point, I was the impromptu expert on Overlanders because oddly enough, the Primes simply weren't _old enough_ to even know anything about the war. This is incredible for a couple reasons, but the one that stands out in my mind is that the laws of time and space do not apply.

I'm getting off track again, but I think that's where I'm going to end it tonight. Tomorrow I'm going to have the details which I'll be putting in my report. I'm also going to tell you how we parted ways with the Primes.

::END ENTRY::


	74. Entry 74: January 5th, 3235 Pt2

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: January 5th, 3235<br>Entry Made 1314 (1:14 PM)

**OPERATION PRIMETIME  
>(D + 51:46:05)<br>(Local Time 1508, Day 233, 3235)**

Dear Journal,

I'm continuing the entry that I had started before. If I remember where I had left off, we had just entered the Overlander facility. The Primes were in tow behind us, carefully making sure to keep their presence as limited as possible. They strangely lost a little bit of their confidence after we told them that any attempt to rush into the facility might result in capture.

This was better safe than sorry though. We wondered if this version of Robotnik, who refers to himself as 'Eggman' is smarter than Kintobor was.

Beller and I were on point. The lights were actually off in this hallway and we stuck to the shadows. Vennettilli was at the rear making sure the Primes were alright. We shared a quick conversation with our sealed helmets:

"Why are we bringing along people who might be shot?" Chris asked. "They don't even have weapons."

"I think they're monitoring us." I told the Lieutenant.

"Monitoring? You mean making sure we do the job."

"In essence, yes."

"So they don't trust us."

Beller chimed in. "Lieutenant, the Primes have just requested help from people that come from _another universe_. Can you imagine what they would be feeling when YOU would ask something like that?"

I think that's a great point. This is the thing that horror movies are made out of. A creature from a different world you're not even aware of is scary, and you're asking it for help. It must not have been an easy thing for them to do. I want to think that the same thing would have happened for us, but the Humans from Earth… they were so _similar_. It didn't feel anything like what the Primes were feeling just by looking at us.

I thought it was a bit rude having our silent conversation, not to mention the Primes must have been a bit insecure looking at our helmets moving towards each other quietly. Bunnie too was left out of our talk, which I felt was doubly rude since she was my best friend.

I broke the silence first. "Sorry about that."

"About what?" Sonic Prime asked.

"We were just sharing some tactical data."

Sally Prime shrugged. "We didn't hear anything."

"Then we can all push on then, hmm?" Beller

From there, it was all routine. We cleared every corner, scanned every hallway. It was tense. I was jumping at my own shadow, and I was sure the Lieutenant was doing the same. Chris, being only Human, gets scared. He thinks that I don't notice and he tries to hide it, but I can tell by his movements that he gets creeped out just like us mere mortals. He has a tell, I think two actually. The first is that he drums his fingers against the grips of his weapons, and the second one is a twitch of the head that goes from the chin to the left. It's quick too, and a blink-and-you-miss-it sort of thing.

It wouldn't be so upsetting if he came clean and said he was scared. It's a Marine sense of pride that he tries to dispel his fear as best he can.

Beller on the other hand was the opposite. He had no tell that I could see. If he was scared, he certainly wasn't showing it.

"Vennettilli, Rabbot, move up to that intersection." The Major ordered.

"Aye aye." Chris whispered. Bunnie only nodded. She held her cannon in front of her as the Lieutenant drummed his fingers against his MA-D. "Clear on the left." He reported.

"Y'all are good on the right." Bunnie whispered. "Which way are we going, Major?"

"In a second. I'm mapping these hallways." Beller said. He walked into the intersection and there was a ping. "Sonar mapping. Great for close quarters."

"Like a bat?" Sally Prime asked.

"Like a bat." The Major nodded.

The Princess' computer pinged. "Heads up, guys. Guard duty is about to shift in five minutes."

Beller sighed. "Then that's five minutes until they go on alert. Follow me, Marines, and… er… Primes."

We ran down the right, presumably because those pings mapped out the correct corridor. I didn't want to depend on it too much. I saw many species of Mobian outside. Who's to say there weren't any bats on the inside? My fears went unrecognized as we only encountered one patrol, which Bunnie put to sleep with one whack.

There were crates outside the door he was guarding. They had Robotnik's logo on them. We wanted to stop and open them, but the Primes wanted to push forward.

"Come on!" the Prime Sonic said. "We're going too slow!"

"We're being tactical." I argued. I thought I could communicate with him best.

"What, strategic? That's no fun though."

"This isn't about fun. It's about finding out what Robo… Eggman's doing here."

"But what's the fun of doing things slowly? How do you get things done?"

Beller rested his hands on the crate. "Sometimes the only time you can accomplish something is slowly. When you find an error, you can correct it right away; something you might not get when you speed past."

The Prime Sally agreed with Beller, but insisted on moving forward. The Lieutenant opted to go forward.

"No Lieutenant. You're staying here. That's an order." Beller said.

"Major, we are running out of time. This place could go into lockdown soon. Hell, they could flood this hallway with cyclosarin gas!"

I severely doubted that. These Mobians didn't seem… so unnecessarily cruel, and certainly seemed to lack the offensive creativity that us and the Humans seemed to share. I said he could go if he wanted.

"Belay that order, Marine. I'm in charge, and you will do as I say. Now stay put, mister!"

To my surprise, Bunnie stepped forward. "I'm going. I'm not under your command, sir. I don't see much point in you yelling at me, now!"

"You, you can go. YOU," he pointed at Chris, "Plant your ass at this crate and help me open it. Acorn, grab an edge."

I took one look at Bunnie as she walked through the door and grabbed the wooden lid of the crate. On three, we pulled it off. Inside, there was a massive number of components, wires, and conductors that were sealed in their own packages. There were a few vials that glowed when shook, and a single golden switch of sorts.

"Looks like a superconductor." Chris guessed. "Actually… these are computer parts."

I asked him why that was surprising.

"I thought Robotnik would be gunrunning and gathering enemies of Earth. That would be the best way to mount an offense."

Beller nodded. "He's right. The best way to start a war is to arm an enemy."

"But this was meant to build something. Not destroy it. Open this other one here."

We did as suggested. Inside this one was a series of tubing. This was way above industrial level. Almost military grade construction equipment. The worst part was that we saw the stamped eagle of the UNSC on a few components. I felt sick. Our technology getting into the wrong hands would have dire consequences. We couldn't let Eggman get ahold of it. By the time we made that decision, we began to notice the lack of alarms and the continued absence of Bunnie and the Primes. The Humans picked up on it instantly.

"You hear that?" Beller asked.

"No." Chris said with a quick twitch. "We have to get moving. Where are the Primes?"

"They went through the door." I said. I walked through the metal portal, and gasped. Hovering about twenty feet off the ground was an energy bubble that pulsed with energy. Inside of it were the writhing bodies of our friends. The room was dark and semispherical. Behind them was a half-completed ring that was a hundred feet in diameter. I called the Humans into the room and their helmeted heads tilted around to grasp the purpose of the room they were in.

I'm not sure for certain, but I strongly believed, and I still do, that I was looking at a work-in-progress Jumpgate. This one was massive though, easily enough for an army to pass through. No starships would be moving through this, but a Pelican dropship could pass through with about fifteen feet of wingspan to spare on both sides. Now I knew why Eggman would have wanted our Robotnik's work. Word had spread through a leak or something that someone had the technology to jump through Existence. Eggman, who I would wager was just as rotten as our version, would be spreading his grubby little claws over the tech to do it.

Robotnik must have found a way to communicate and send supplies one-way into the Prime universe. That's scary… a way to transport an object one way into another universe. This leaves the possibility for weapons of mass destruction that can just pop into existence in a whole other plane of being.

We ran over to the Primes and Bunnie with speed. We must have babbled for a minute on how to get them down, but we didn't have any ideas. Eventually, we thought that the best way to do it was to destroy the device. Beller ordered us to load a rifle grenade and send it straight towards the projectors of the device.

Now, these things are fifty millimeter high explosive projectiles. They're self-arming and detonate with directed force – a flying shaped charge, great for structural damage.

I loaded the grenade into the chamber and aimed. That's when a voice came from the darkness.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

A mass emerged from the darkness. He was shaped differently, had a huge mustache, a round body that appeared… well, egg-like, and what seemed like a red flash behind his pince-nez. It was a different image, but it was clear that this was the infamous Doctor Eggman.

"Bravo on your entry, soldiers. Welcome to the Prime universe."

"You know who we are?" Beller asked.

"Not really." Eggman said. "I can only guess. You're professionals, no doubt about that. You've cleanly dispatched my guards without killing them, and move like a unit. A challenge." He pointed at the logos on our armor. "UNSC. Are you related to the United Nations?"

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"There was once something like that on Mobius. A very… very long time ago." He chuckled. "Well, if you're going to shoot me, do it. Come on now! Your arms are going to get sore."

I heard Chris whisper, "Permission to fire?"

"No, Lieutenant." Beller whispered. "He's got a shield." He said that a bit louder.

Eggman groaned. "You're no fun. Can you at least shoot it and let me show it off?"

"No." The major said.

"Ugh… well then, let's proceed to the matter at hand. There is a ball of energy and torture suspended 480 marks in the air holding the poor princes… the king of speed… and what I assume is *your* property!" He indicated Bunnie. "Now, does anybody know how the nervous system works?"

No answers. I know how it works; I just didn't want to speak to this freak.

"Hmm… I see the biology department has budget costs in your universe. Layman's terms: If I press this button here…" he indicated a red button on one of the pillars supporting the bubble, "I turn up the electric charge. They're barely conscious, but they will feel pain. If I turn it up enough, their nervous systems will ignite, which I presume will… cause unfortunate health problems."

I noted the euphemism in the place of using 'kill'.

"This… mutant version of the cyborg…" indicating Bunnie again, "Well her circuits will overload far before her nerves will. She will be limp; crippled; unable to move. I find that a much crueler fate."

Chris manned up and said, "And what if we just blow up these towers?"

"Then the bubble will overload and kill them anyway."

"You're bluffing."

Eggman started chuckling.

"Am I? Go on then. Take a shot!"

Before any of us could react, Beller calmly said, "Gladly!" and fired his grenade launcher. The projectile impacted the beam projector at hundreds of miles per hour and exploded on impact. In a blast of debris, the bubble popped and the three stunned beings dropped to the ground. The doctor looked stunned.

"How did you… I didn't think you'd actually…"

"I took a risk, and it paid off, didn't it?" Beller growled. "Now… where is Robotnik, and what's this lovely little DIY you have going on here?"

Chris and I checked up on the Primes and Bunnie. I made sure she was OK, and after a quick once-over, determined her prosthetics were working just fine. I did a concussion check on the others too and they were also OK. Eggman must have known he was backed into a corner. I was starting to doubt he had a shield as he originally claimed.

"Lieutenant, take the doctor into custody."

"Yes, sir." The Human said.

"GUARDS!" Eggman cried out. At once, doors on all sides opened up and a large number of robots piled out with weapons gleaming. "Get them! Protect the gate!"

Sonic Prime was up at once and even had a smile on his face. He turned to us. "Check this out!" he laughed and vanished in a flash. At once, Eggman's pawns began to fly apart at the seams, leak lubricants and simply combust. It was… something else.

This Prime put our Sonic to shame. He dashed from one point to another, tearing up the air and the metal as he went, and he enjoyed it. This was fun to him, and since he knew he wouldn't have to worry about being caught, he smashed to his heart's content. Eggman was mortified, as if he dealt with this on a regular basis. If the formula was the same, he did.

We helped Sonic out though. The rest of us took cover and took potshots at the SWAT bots while Sonic Prime did most of the legwork. My double still didn't request a weapon at all though, and just observed, but called out locations of approaching robots. Eggman was clearly peeved by this point and called his living guards from the outside.

We made a quick plan. We had to neutralize the jumpgate before anything else. If that thing was finished, the madman of Mobius would have a way to jump anywhere else in Existence with an army, and I'll be damned before I let that happen. Beller had us split in one team of three and another of two. I went with the Major while Chris, Bunnie and Sally Prime went another way. We had to weave in and out of the crates… vehicles… broken robots and… sorry… this is the part I don't like so much.

My first kill.

The rite of passage for Marines in their service career is to add the first notch to their weapon. I had gotten away with taking down robots, but I couldn't avoid it forever. It would creep up on me eventually and I would be forced to defend myself, as is what happened on that day.

Bunnie was knocked to the ground by a large bear. I remember what he looked like too. He was tall for a Prime Mobian, maybe about five-four. A red bandana covered his forehead, and a bandolier of laser magazines covered his chest. He knocked my best friend down and took a knife out to cut her throat. She screamed louder than I ever heard her… and I panicked. I acted out of instinct. I raised my gun, took aim, and fired ten rounds.

Each one of those ten rounds hit their mark. Bunnie's attacker seemed to dance as each of the projectiles hit him. Each time he was hit, a small puddle of blood pooled around him. I even remember the way he fell. It was like a rockslide: he fell forwards and bounced somewhat on his stomach. Bunnie scampered away quickly to get away from her attacker. There I was in a state of half-shock. I had killed my first target. I'm sorry, 'kill' isn't the correct term. I wrote in the report 'neutralized the attacker'. It didn't make me feel any better.

So, while I was standing there watching his last breaths, I didn't notice a laser whip past my ear. I cried out because it seared off fur and burned my skin. It was a wake-up call, and I'd be stupid to sleep through it. The man I killed was out of my mind for the time being. I let the Lieutenant take care of Bunnie. He told me afterwards he would make a better attempt to keep an eye on her.

Eggman had no real strategy. I think he was trying to flood the place with as many robots as possible and then hope we drown in them. The insurgents on the other hand were fewer in number and actually seemed to run out. I let Beller and Vennettilli dispatch the Prime enemies, despite the original warnings from Sally Prime. Although, she was silent. I think she understood that sometimes there was no way around these kinds of things. How do they do it? The other Humans I mean? How can they dull their senses? How did they desensitize themselves? I'm going to ask another day.

The Mobian insurgents were either neutralized or had fled by the time we pushed forward. Eggman was not pleased with this and had called in more robots. We were running out of ammunition and had scavenge those of the fallen. I'll just say this though: the person who designed these… laser rifles really didn't have a sense of quality. There were no maker marks, no serial numbers, not even instructions for new users. What company designed these bricks?

They fired like blasters from Star Wars, it's a kind of a science fiction movie from the 1970s. Mark Hamhill? Harrison Ford? I'd like some of that spice, please! Uh, anyway… the 'projectiles', if I can call them that, travelled at sublight speed while impacting with solid force. These worked great against the robots, but our new objective was to destroy whatever he was building. Sonic was our distraction. I asked him to toy around with the robots and keep them off our backs, which he seemed more than pleased to do for us. I didn't pay attention to what he was doing, but I'm sure he was doing it well.

Trying to blow up the gate wouldn't do a whole lot of damage. It could just be rebuilt. We needed to put it out of commission. Like, permanently. We quickly talked about the possibilities.

"C4 or C12?" Chris suggested.

Idiot. We didn't have any. "Sure. We'll just use the packs that we obviously brought with us, right?"

"50 mike-mike?"

"Not enough charge." I said. "Besides, that won't do the damage we're looking for."

"So what is the damage we're looking for then?"

"I want this place leveled."

Chris' eyebrow raised behind his visor. "Oooh, setting your sights high, aren't you?"

"I learn from the best!"

"Well, I assume you have a way to do that?"

I had to guess fast. Where would one be able to set a self-destruct system or something? I saw it right in front of me. "That control panel. If we can look at it, we can probably find a way to destroy the jumpgate and maybe this whole building. Uh oh… Ugly's calling in more robots!"

A full platoon – around thirty of them came out of the woodwork. Sally Prime tugged on one of my armor plates, "Hang on, I'm going with you. I know how to get into those computers."

I didn't even hesitate and nodded. "Lieutenant, get those things away from us!"

"Yes, Highness!" Chris saluted. "Major, we're hitting those hostiles!"

"Affirmative." Beller said, and started hammering off rounds.

"Run, Sal!" Bunnie called. "I'll keep a closer eye on you!"

It felt nice to have all the bases covered. Looking back at the situation, I would have opted to lift a smoke-screen or something, maybe even a chaff grenade if we had it, but as of right now, I was protected by everyone. Sonic Prime was confusing the robots long enough for the Marines to shoot them, and Bunnie made sure that I wouldn't be shot in the back, and lastly, the Prime double of me would help me bring this thing to the ground, and then some.

I would fill many more pages just detailing the whole account of what happened, so I'll keep it short and sweet: We reached the control panel without danger, but a laser from one of these SWATbots burned some of my shoulder armor off. I'm glad I wasn't the one paying for this stuff. The computer was, surprisingly enough, displaying text in English, which made me raise an eyebrow. I didn't take off my helmet, out of fear of losing my head in more ways than one.

Prime Sally tapped into the system quickly, which told me that she had done something like this several times before. Just what did these kids do on a regular basis? We snuck into Robotropolis several times before, but Sally Prime was a capable hacker who got us into the main menu in less than ten seconds.

My motion sensor blipped, and I placed the barrel of my handgun at Doctor Eggman.

"Freeze."

"You… you meddling… what are you people?"

With one hand I held my pistol, and the other unsealed my helmet and took it off. It would have been dramatic if my hair had fallen out, but then I remembered I had it shortened so it could fit into these things.

"What's up, Doc?"

Eggman's jaw dropped. "Princess? I… you're… you two are… different!"

"You've got that right. I am different, in many ways." I glanced at the Prime Sally who shot me a glance and shrugged. I think it was beautiful to think that since I had about two feet of height over Prime Sally, I could actually hold my gun at face level. The safety was on though.

I don't even know if Eggman knew what a safety even was.

"You're from another universe?"

"The one where Robotnik gave you your gift baskets. Earth says hi too."

"Earth… but Mobius IS Earth!"

"The Marines back there would disagree with you. How's it coming, Mini-me?"

No more movie quotes. They aren't sinking in. "Who?" She asked. "Oh, right! I'm at the… operations tab. There's a lot of individual settings that we can apply here. It says it's in testing mode."

"Well, time to take this thing for a spin."

"NO!" Eggman cried out. "You'll cause a chain reaction that will destroy the whole base!"

I suddenly felt a hand wrap around my neck. Someone was dragging me down. I dropped my gun. The sound of gasping came to my ears, and my vision was starting to blur. I saw out of the corner of my vision, it was a Prime Mobian, but I wasn't sure which. "Help!" I croaked, but I can assure you, it didn't sound anything like it. Nothing came over the gunfire. The Humans couldn't hear me. I prayed for a weakness in my attacker and I found it. I was forced to my knees and my hand near-limply fell on the knife near my boot. I snapped it up quickly and plunged it into the chest of my attacker.

That was my second kill.

It was a lot more subtle than the first. The grip on my throat weakened, and I could breathe again. The desaturated world regained its color. I broke free of the death grip and saw what was choking me: it was indeed another Mobian, but it was a chipmunk, not all that dissimilar from me. He placed his shaking hand on the wound, looked at the blood on his hands, and then passed out.

I don't think anybody in the room was as shocked as Eggman was. He looked at the body and then back to me, as if he couldn't comprehend that I was the one to kill the attacker. I had no choice, was dying on the spot, and I needed to react. It was more of a reflex than a premeditative response. Regardless, I was alive, which gave me comfort.

Sally Prime was also a bit shocked, but closed her eyes tightly and continued to hit the keyboard. I don't know if she could bear seeing what happened, but there it was… she didn't even pick up the gun to save me. I don't know if she even saw what happened. I want to blame her for this whole thing… but can I?

I pointed my gun towards Eggman, slowly setting the knife back into my boot. Eggman slowly backed off.

"Now hold on now, I didn't know you were THAT serious."

"I'm always serious." I told the doctor. Serious enough to defend myself, and serious enough to put you down if you lay a finger on me. Got any more surprises or mercenaries for me?"

I heard Chris scream, "Area is clear!"

"I guess not. I guess the world's better off without a few more guns for hire."

Eggman just trembled. I think there was a sense of fear when he was looking at an armed Marine the Freedom Fighters couldn't muster. My more humanoid appearance probably had something to do with it as well. Frankly, a funny animal like the Primes with military grade weaponry don't look all that intimidating. Me on the other hand, a five foot two humanoid armed with the best the UNSC can provide me, and battle plates which leave me invulnerable to anything under a fifty probably freaks Robotnik out.

I would be his worst nightmare.

"I'm ready. I've set the parameters to initiate a test run."

I saw Robotnik twitch his hands.

"Move. I dare you." I placed my left hand over my right, solidifying my grip.

He stopped moving and raised his hands.

Sally Prime called, "I'm getting a warning about the nature of the test. The system's telling me if I run it, we could get an overload. According to the power requirements, the gate's drawing power from a _nuclear fusion plant_ under this facility. When that blows, the entire place could collapse."

"Beautiful. Override it."

She did so quickly. "Done. Looks like the machine's starting up. Just for good luck, I put it on a timer. Three minutes seems decent enough?"

"You up for a run, Lieutenant?" I asked.

"Always ready for some exercise!"

Sonic Prime grabbed Sally Prime by the hand. "We'll see you out there!" he said, before both of them vanished in a flash.

Beller looked at Eggman. "If you have a secret exit, you'd best use it now. It would be a shame to have you buried under all of this steel and rock."

The Doctor seemed to take the words seriously and sprinted away, far quicker than a man his size would have permitted. With that, we also made our way out. Our little chat took up about twenty seconds, meaning that there was two minutes forty until the place was coming down.

It was too close. Three minutes might have seemed enough when you have a supersonic hedgehog to whisk you away, but I think we seriously underestimated the weight of our armor. We bolted, and I mean we went for the all-time speed record too. We weren't superpowered like Sonic Prime, but we were fast. We dropped the laser weapons to get speed, but grasped our Human-made weapons tightly in case we needed them.

We followed the way we came and sprinted out of the building with twelve seconds to spare. By all accounts, I was surprised. I expected something much tighter in terms of time left on the clock. No jumping out of explosions for us. We found the Primes waiting for us and waving us towards them.

Zero time. The ring turned on. I didn't see what happened, but whatever occurred at that point was definitely powerful. An ice blue glow came out of the entrance to the facility and blew part of the roof off. The ground began to rumble and a massive explosion sounded. The fusion reactors must have detonated due to massive power overflow. The Overlander base began to shudder and then fell into the ground in a heap. A large ball of flame erupted out with a thundering blast. When all was over, we stared at the crater of what used to be the biggest threat to the Prime universe.

Bunnie sat down on the ground and breathed steadily. She told me she was a bit tired, but I know it was the time in that holding device. The electricity couldn't have been positive for her circuits, but she seemed alright, only asking for a power boost after we got back to the castle. The Primes seemed alright. If they had any injuries, they kept quiet about it. Actually, the first thing that came out of Sally Prime's mouth was 'Where's Eggman?'.

On cue, we saw a dark dot of a man flying away in some bulbous pod of a sort, shaking his fist like an old man. We could barely make out his threats on how he would use everything in his power to make us pay if we ever showed up here again. Not the Primes. Us. We had made it personal with Eggman, and the UNSC would pay the price. If anybody returned to this world in the future, we would do well to watch our backs.

Hmph. He wouldn't be making those gestures of we sent Spartans instead.

"Relax, I let him go."

"Why did you do that?" Sonic Prime asked.

"I'd never hear the end of it otherwise. Against my better judgment, he's your problem, not ours. We were called in to kill that jumpgate. Not the scientist."

"Thank you." Sally Prime noted. "Do you think we got all of those supplies?"

"Most of them, anyway." I said.

Bunnie added, "I don't think Eggman's gonna get far with two or three crates, guys."

"Agreed." Chris said. He took off his helmet and started laughing. "Our Robotnik is _not_ going to be happy when he gets the status report!"

"Well, then we have to get our hands on him as well."

"And bring him to justice?" Prime Sally asked.

"I'll be in the courtroom myself." Vennettilli growled.

"Justice is being generous. You don't want to hear all the things he's done on our end." Beller shook his head. "But, we have to find him out there… somewhere." He glanced at the stars. "But, our job's complete. Can we mark these other crates with some sort of tracking device?"

Sonic grinned and put his thumb to his chest. "No problem. I can remember where they are."

"When you get your hands on them, destroy them and anything inside. I don't think you're ready for what can lie on the other side."

"Is that opinion or fact, Major Beller?" Sally Prime asked. "What makes you say we're not ready?"

I was the one who said, "One day, I'll show you. Until then, be conservative with that gate of yours. If you must, limit it only in emergencies. Even better, see if you can get it to open up in multiple places on Mobius. It could be useful."

Our ride home was in the craft Sally Prime arrived in. It was a hauntingly similar craft to our FFS that we had before the Battle of Carson Valley. This one was nicer though. It was a lot less utilitarian and bulky. No real weapons, a bit faster; a utility craft for quick hops in any occasion. I could have flown it, but of course, I was supposed to be sitting down and resting. I closed my eyes and let my head hit the steel bulkhead behind my seat – I was too tall for the headrest of course.

"Hey, Princess… are you OK?" Chris was asking the question. He had his helmet off and was looking at me with concerned eyes."

"No, Chris. I'm not. I'll tell you later."

And indeed, I will. I'm going to set up an appointment with a counselor. I… I don't feel good at all.

**OPERATION PRIMETIME CONCLUDED  
>D+53:00:07, 1808H, Day 233, 3235<strong>

::END ENTRY::


	75. Entry 75: January 10th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: January 10th, 3235<br>Entry Made 1754 (5:54 PM) 

Dear Journal,

I recently got back from that appointment I made reference to in my last entry. The doctor I saw was a Human, but I specifically looked for one that dealt with stress following combat operations. Wouldn't you know it, there was one aboard the _Indomitable_. The minute I got back I decided to book an appointment after… what happened in the Prime Universe.

I should tell you how we parted company with the Primes. It was on good terms, though I feel we were both a little shaken up with what happened in that base. We met with the King and Queen to discuss what happened, and to say the least, they were a bit shocked with our appearance. I think that Mom… Queen Alicia… nearly cried out when she saw me. I don't think they could have been prepared. King Max was a bit hesitant to get closer to the Humans, specifically because they resembled the Overlanders. I don't think the Primes actually informed the Royals that we were coming for a visit. What a gutsy little girl.

We had a debriefing, but that will remain in my report only because I don't want this journal to be covered in black ink so to speak. The bottom line was that what we did gave the Mobians a bit more breathing room. A creature like Eggman would be a menace if he were to acquire the technology of a jumpgate, but even if this Eggman is a 'superior' Prime, he's got nothing on Robotnik, who will start a war and gather enemies of the UN. He'll lead a long and bloody battle that I'm sure will span the stars.

We didn't mention this to the Primes at all. We were thanked for our service regardless and we spent the night at the castle. It was odd, sleeping in a bed that I knew was at home, but at the same time, wasn't mine. I was given with Bunnie while Beller and Vennettilli slept in a special barracks room. I wanted better accommodations for them, but I was overruled by the Royals. They told me that as soldiers, they knew that living a Spartan lifestyle was customary to them. When I told them that I wanted to be granted the same level of comfort, they responded that I was too good for that. Apparently the fact that I wore armor, spoke like them, and followed their orders didn't make me a Marine to them. I was as much their daughter as the Prime Sally was, and I was frustrated with that. It made me feel bad knowing that I had a comfortable bed and soft pillow to rest my head on, while Beller and Chris probably would be lucky to have a blanket to cover them. Mark my words, I won't forget making up for this, no matter how much the Lieutenant says 'he's fine' with everything.

In the morning, we got our gear together and stepped right through the gate, but not before promising the Prime Sally that we would still keep in touch from time to time as a type of status report. I wanted her to know that if something ever came up again, she could call us to help out. She told me that she would definitely let us know, but stated that for the time being, she had no need of our special services. With a polite goodbye, I walked through the open portal back across Existence.

Debriefing was, once again, classified, but I was happy know that Tails was at the controls and not some ONI dragon just waiting to pelt us with requests for information. He was just as curious, but I knew that a curious mind like his could keep the information safe.

I suppose I'll jump ahead to the doctor. I don't want to call her a 'therapist' per se, because that makes it seem like I have a psychological issue. It's not an issue, but at the same time, this isn't something that's just going to solve itself. Part of being a better person is admitting that you need help from time to time. She was a nice lady. Human, as I mentioned before, but she was a special therapist. She even allowed me to record parts of our session, as long as I promised that it would keep the doctor-patient confidentiality.

"Ah, right on time! Come in, your highness, come in!"

"Oh… thank you. Are you the doctor?"

"Yes I am! My name is doctor Ruth Julliani. Please, have a seat, Highness."

"Please, call me Sally."

"Thank you, Sally. Sometimes it's good for a physician and a patient in this sort of environment to be on a first name basis. It's make discussing things a whole lot comfortable to both of us. Before we begin, are there any questions that you'd like to ask me?"

"Actually there are a couple of things I'm curious about."

"Go right ahead. I'm an open book."

"What's a psychologist doing aboard a spaceship; a military spaceship at that?"

"Well, you wouldn't believe it, but there is a very large job for me and my colleagues to do aboard the _Indomitable_. Human beings weren't meant to spend a lot of time in space for long periods of time. After a long time in an environment like the void can cause feelings of distress or severe homesickness in multiple crew members. My job, as well as those who work with me, is to calm or sooth the crew of the ship and the Marines as well."

"Does your job differ depending on whether you're assessing members of the Navy or the Marines?"

"Oh, very much so. The Navy and the Marines operate on different levels and with different priorities. I find personally that the Navy are more prone to the feelings of homesickness and feelings of insignificance that usually comes with being at the helm of a spaceship exploring the galaxy. I'm not a philosopher, but sometimes the mind cannot comprehend the vastness of space and simply overloads a person. I see multiple officers since they are most exposed to these differences. NCOs are usually stuck doing busywork that distracts them from the world around them. Sometimes I recommend the Commanding officers of the said officers to have them distract themselves through various means.

Now, Marines on the other hand are a different ball game. Marines usually have to deal with the threat of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – shell shock. Fighting hasn't changed, Highness. People fight, people die, people kill, and they need someone to talk to."

"One more question: have you ever treated members of different races?"

"Excellent question. However, I'm not the expert on that. Doctor Horus Jaspar is the xenopsychologist on board. He's treated multiple members of Gallvente, a Datonian, and he's claimed to have developed a friendship with a Sangheili after a twelve week string of appointments, but I think that's a stretch.

"What makes Mobians special? Why am I not seeing Doctor Jaspar?"

"Your race is _special_. I'm sure you've been told this before, but your thought patterns, emotions, motivations, and psychological responses to external stimuli are more alike to Humanity than any other race. You're basically our furry doubles in body and mind! Anything else?"

"No."

"Alright. How about you tell me about what's been troubling you then."

"Uh, OK. It hasn't been long ago. I don't know if I can talk about the mission I was on."

"That's alright. You don't need to include what you don't want to. Water?"

"Oh, yes please. Alright then. I was in a firefight involving a group of people that I knew. One of my best friends was being attacked. She was in danger, so I fired on the threat… and neutralized it. It… it…"

"It was the first time you killed an enemy soldier."

"Yes. I didn't do it once either. I did it again!"

"Did you get through the mission alright? Were you injured?"

"No. I was fine. I think I coasted through on adrenaline alone."

"How did you feel after you shot the enemy?"

"I felt… I felt like a part of myself died. I felt like the worst person in the world. I felt like I might as well have shot myself."

"Did you actually witness the soldier die?"

"No. my attention was taken off him. But still. The experience of ending another creature's life…"

"How long have you been in the Marine Corps?"

"Six months."

"How many engagements have you been in?"

"Five."

"And that was your first kill?"

"Yes."

"Now it's my turn to be shocked. How could you be in five engagements and not kill a single person?"

"That's the thing though, doctor. I wasn't killing people. They were robots I was shooting."

"Would you classify these robots as sentient?"

"Not at all. They were metal shells programmed to shoot innocents."

"How long have you been fighting robots?"

"Since I was ten."

"And how old are you now?"

"Twenty."

"You were a Freedom Fighter, right?"

"That's correct. I was trained to fight Robotnik's war machines for our freedom."

"What was your reaction when you destroyed your first robot?"

(Seven second pause)

"There was no reaction. I thought absolutely nothing of it. I hated those robots. They weren't people. They were tools of evil and I thought they got what they deserved."

"I think I'm starting to see where your shock's coming in. You had a strong motivation for fighting Robotnik's machines. You hated them for what they were and for who they served, but you thought of them as nothing more than tools which you could destroy. Sally, Robots have no faces, no personalities, and no souls. You could easily desensitize yourself to that. Now, a person on the other hand, one would get a bit hesitant making that ultimate choice, but desensitization for a Marine would be the difference between life or death. More water?"

"Please."

"Would you like to know something I just thought of?"

"What's that?"

"How did you feel aiming your gun at the enemy in the first place?"

"Horrible. Did I mention my target was a Mobian?"

"No. That's just what I was about to get through. Your mind recognized the similarity of your target and started to tell you to hesitate shooting something that looked like you. It's a type of self preservation, just the same way that a Human would hesitate harming another Human at an instinctive level. Hypothetical situation: Would you have felt the same way should a Sangheili attack your friend?"

"No."

"Would you react to that the same way that you reacted to the robots?"

"Not as much, but yes, I would."

"Because it's not like you, right?"

"That's a bit crude, but yes."

"Here's another hypothetical situation: what if the attacker was a Human?"

"Doctor are we getting off track?"

"Just the one more question, then we can get moving."

"Alright then. No. I would probably never hesitate shooting a Human if I had to. I would want to get it out of the way as quickly as possible. They just look too similar to the Overlanders… I hate Overlanders."

"Now THAT is a topic for another day. Sally, I want you to think about the fact that you saved your friend's life by doing what you did. You may not like it, but what you did was protect someone you cared about. Granted, they may or may not have been a soldier, but they had their life in danger and you acted accordingly."

"There were other ways to solve that situation though! Nobody had to die!"

"Could you think of another way to resolve that? Can you do that for me? Good. Now, could you do that under fire while your friend was within an inch of their life?"

"I… I… No. I just didn't have the time. I just could do anything!"

"Sally, don't think like that. If you want to get out of this, you need to have a positive outlook. It was a tough call, but you did what you had to do."

"I… I think you're right."

"I can tell you what I think, Sally, but you need to make the decision about what YOU think. I think this a good way to start off our talks. Can you come back to the ship in about a week or so and we can further discuss what happened? I apologize, but I just received a notice that my next appointment will be pushed up by half an hour. I'm sorry."

"No… no, that's alright. Thank you, Doctor Ruth, for helping me sort this out."

"I'm here to help you, Sally. If there's anything you need or if you want to come back sooner, I can be reached by a simple call."

"Am I going to need to go on medication?"

"I don't think that will be necessary. This seems to be something we can just talk out. Here, I'll walk you out."

"Thank you again, Doctor Ruth. I just really need someone to talk to."

"Do you have any friends you could talk this over with? I think when we talk to those we care about, we can get over a problem easier. Talk to your friend…"

"Bunnie."

"Talk to Bunnie, see what she thinks about the situation. I think she'll have a lot to say about this."

"I will. Thank you again."

"It's no trouble highness. Have a good day."

::END RECORDING::

So that's that, right? I think she's right. I'm going to talk to my friends. I think she's helped me out a bit. I've seen people die before… but I've never ended a life. I wouldn't harm a fly… Mobians aren't killers… or so I thought. I need to talk to Sonic. I could use a helpful pep talk.

::END ENTRY::


	76. Entry 76: January 15th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn:  
>Date: January 15th, 3235<br>Entry Made 0200 (2:00 AM)

Dear Journal,

It should come as no surprise that I eventually took Dr. Julliani's advice and talked to some of the other people around me for their take on things. Because I didn't want to sit through a lecture of disclosing classified information, I kept the details brief. The first person I talked to was Bunnie, and I spoke about two days after talking to Dr. Ruth.

Her response was what I somewhat expected. She mentioned how she was terrified about the whole thing and that I saved her life. She said that she had never been that close to death before and that the entire thing was beyond horrible for her, but she thanked 'my lucky stars' that I was there for her. She said that whatever happened, she was glad I made the call to save her.

That did make me feel good, but still couldn't get the shock out of the way. I talked to Sonic next. We talk all the time, which is to be expected. Classified or not, I make sure he's the first to know about these things if they're troubling me. Of course, I couldn't control myself and I broke down calling myself a murderer and how I wasn't any better than those we were fighting against. He looked me right in the eye and told me that I was not a murderer, and that I was a good person. He told me that if he were in that situation, that he would do the same for me.

I brought up the fact that he has super-speed and could have stopped anything like that before it even began. He gave a smirk and said, "OK, if my legs were bound in chains."

It was nice to get some support. I decided to talk to my mother and father about it. It was a beautiful day outside in the gardens, and I found my parents by the pond near the center of the grounds. I noticed a few bodyguards hidden near shrubs and in pathways. Looks like they got a training course in protecting royalty.

I was VERY careful about how I said what I said. I said, "I was forced to defend myself and dealt with a threat to save Bunnie."

My father looked at me and told me to give it to him straight. Then I told him: I killed someone.

My mother only placed a hand for her forehead. "Oh, my little girl… why did you have to get mixed up in this business… with those barbarian soldiers!"

That's when I snapped back, "They are NOT barbarians! They're doing more for us than any of us can know!"

My father calmed me down and tried to explain that this sort of news was shocking. They never expected me to act like this.

Well, that makes three of us.

"I can talk to the Admiral." He said, "I can get you out of this if you want. If you feel you're not cut out for this, say the word and I can bring you back home… and you can leave the fighting to others more suited for it."

"No." I said with great regret. "I'm committed. I stand by what I said that day I accepted my role. There are days I regret it, but it's who I am now. While Robotnik is threatening Humanity, I can't stand by and let innocent people get hurt."

My father actually smiled. "You're a very brave girl; there's no doubt of that… Your mother and I are beyond worried for your safety though. We sit at home every day hoping you don't come home… well…"

"…In a box." I finished the sentence. I felt sick saying it.

"Yes." My mother said. She sniffled. "I can't stand the thought of losing you! Elias… Sally… we'd have nothing left if we lost you!"

"I know. I don't want to lose either of you either. You need to trust me on this one."

My father sighed and placed a warm hand on my cheek. "I do trust you, my little princess. I trust you with the world… but don't break an old man's heart."

"I promise Daddy. I won't."

He smiled. "Just say the word; I can talk to the right people."

"I'll always keep it in mind."

There was one more person that I needed to talk to… wanted to talk to. The Lieutenant left the day he got back, and was lounging around in his Mexican pyramid. Out of everybody I knew, he would probably have the most to say on this topic. I went through the proper COM channels to get a connection to the secret UNSC Emerald Holding Facility through their secret COM systems… secretly.

I have the conversation actually. Listen:

::BEGIN PLAYBACK::

K: Who's there?

S: It's me, Knuckles.

K: Hello Princess. Nice of you to call.

S: How are you doing, watchdog?

K: I'm adjusting well. This is starting to feel like home. I've been reading a lot of the translations of these messages and pictograms on the walls.

S: I didn't know you were such a linguist!

K: I'm not. I'm a bit bored around here.

S: Says the man whose job is to watch a rock.

K: Easy. That's a sacred duty. At least it's outside where I had fresh breeze, birds singing, sunny skies, among other things. Here I have rocks, darkness, and passing references to Human sacrifices on the walls.

S: Oh… sorry about that.

K: And by the way: It's a _shiny_ rock.

S: Hmm… Is Chris there?

K: Just got back from a run. Want to talk to him?

S: Please.

C: Hey, Boss.

S: Human… Chris… I'd like to talk to you… my God, is there running water on your head?"

C: Huh? Oh, yeah. Thrity laps around the pyramid. We're close to the equator, Princess. It's always hot. Haven't had that sort of run in a while. What's up?

S: I wanted to talk to you about what happened a few days ago.

C: Is this about Bunnie's attacker?

S: And the guy after that.

C: You know, it's not wise to continue to dwell on thing like that, Highness. It could screw up your cognitive functions in the field. Let it go.

S: Please, just answer a few questions for me.

C:… alright. I'll do it. What do you want to know?

S: You served for two years, right?

C: On Talahan. I've been a Marine for three years, and only about maybe 10 months I was an officer.

S: How many people did you… destroy?

C: Sally, first let me tell you that these people were not professionals. They had barely any training program, they didn't have any advanced weapons, no body armor, and their resolve shattered under fire.

I lost count around sixty.

S: You killed sixty people?

C: Over a period of two years. That's one of the reasons I was catapulted forward in rank.

S: Why haven't you told me this before?

C: You never asked! I thought you said you looked at my dossier!

S: I did… but it never mentioned something that high!

C: Those are *confirmed* kills, meaning that there were other unofficial ones that I carried out.

S: How… how did you deal with it?

C: The first time, I felt a lot like you're feeling now. But I got over it. Pull yourself together.

S: Is it just that easy?

C: It had to be for me. If I didn't get it over with, I would have collapsed from the strain and probably would have been killed.

S: We're not on Talahan. We're not in a war.

C: So see a counselor. Talk it out, and get it behind you. I'm serious, Princess. Dwelling on a decision of that magnitude will NOT be good for you. Get a grip.

S: Watch the tone, Human.

C: Tough love, Sally. Sometimes you have to be forceful to get the point across.

S: You listen here… I… you're right. OK, you're right. I need to put it behind me. I… I am seeing a counselor.

C: Good. If only I had one in the jungle. Things would have been much easier for me.

S: Out of curiosity, how long did it take you to get over it?

C: Four months. In that time, I eliminated a further ten targets. By the time I was done, I was desensitized. I was a rock.

S: I think I'm afraid of that.

C: Well, you have an option I was never given: walk away if you can't handle it. You have the power to end your service single handedly if you want to put this behind you in a peaceful manner.

S: Are you challenging me, Lieutenant?

C: You're challenging yourself.

S: I'll think about it.

C: See the councilor. It will be good for you. Can you do that for me?

S: Yeah. I'll see her in a couple days or so.

C: Good. This will be good for you in the long run. Better kill the link. We're probably costing the phone company a fortune. I'll contact you when my next report's ready.

S: Chris, just call me if you want to talk. I'll send the number next time.

C: I… Thank you, Sal.

S: Take care of yourself, Human. Wait, one more question: the second guy I… dealt with. You've looked someone in the eyes right when they died, right?

C: I have. You have too, Sal. Remember Vere?

S: I don't like thinking about Vere… how different it could have been.

C: I looked my best friend in the eye as he took his last breaths.

S: But did you _kill_ anybody looking them in the eye?

C: Should I really answer this, seeing how you're doing?

S: Please.

(Three second pause)

C: Yes. Yes I did. He pounced on me, and I was forced to defend myself.

S: Did you… watch him die?

C: Yes.

S: Did he look into your eyes?

C: The last thing he saw was his reflection.

(twelve second pause)

S: Thank you Christopher.

C: Sally, what's wrong? What did I do?

S: Made me feel a bit better about myself. I'll call you guys another time. Goodbye.

C: Alright… goodbye.

::END PLAYBACK::

I'll take his advice for the time being. As much as I hate to admit it, the Human's right. I need to keep seeing Dr. Julliani. If I'm lucky, I just might be able to get through this whole thing. What scares me though is whether or not I'll have to do this whole thing over again. Will I throw in the towel on my own commitment?

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't considering it. You know, I consider my talk with the Lieutenant to be very important. I think I can see a warning. He represents a pit, a man that has been hardened by a life of fighting and loss. I consider him something that I want to avoid… but I look closer, and see that flicker of Humanity that remains.

You know, Mobian scholars have wondered for hundreds of years why we continue to use that word. Why Humanity? We aren't Humans. Why should we use a word for a species that died out hundreds of years ago (At least on Mobius anyway)? The first reason is that no other word stuck. The second reason is that I don't think 'humanity' really applies just to Humans. It's a word that describes our inner nature and the goodness that lies within us.

It's in there. I can see that… but how on Earth are we… am _I_ going to get it back?

His time is running out. I can feel that for certain. Something broke inside of him during that war and he's not talking about everything that he saw. What secrets are you hiding Christopher? What did you do on that planet?

As soon as I figure that out, I can try to fix this.

I know it was never my problem to begin with, and I know I shouldn't interfere, but I just can't let this guy turn into a wraith or something like that. I need to help… but when…?

::END ENTRY::


	77. Entry 77: January 22nd, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: January 22nd, 3235<br>Entry Made 0140 (1:40 AM)

Dear Journal,

It's late. My eyes hurt. I haven't been getting enough sleep lately. For the past week or so I've been staying up to four in the morning. The winter storms are helping things at all either. Last night the winds picked up to nearly forty miles an hour and closed down a section of Highway 101 that goes further into the land. Three cities in the Kingdom's dominion are without power: Westpaw, Colomatch, and Iolo, all with just under a population of 100,000. This is the first time that the Humans have offered to lend a hand with the aid procedures, and thank Mobius for the _Indomitable_. The minute we got news that the entire region lost power, dropships with supplies and portable generators were flown in along with the Royal Aid Corps. I watched the news that showed the citizens in a temporary shelter where warmth and power was provided so that they could charge their items while the electricity was being brought back. All through the fields of Iolo, things that looked like Quonset huts were erected with special vehicles equipped with snow treads going between them. Westpaw got the worst of the weather as it was located in the Andobe Valley where snow tends to gather in the bowl caused by the terrain. They got over three feet – enough to cover a Prime to his head.

The weather is causing me strain, which I think might have a hand in my sleep cycle being disrupted, or more likely it's because of this mini psychotic episode that's been plaguing my dreams. That's something I'm working with alongside Dr. Julliani. We had another meeting two days ago and I got to the issues I have with Overlanders. She asked me not to tape that one as she felt that would reduce the impact of our session. Essentially she helped me see that my hate for the Overlanders was something that conflicted with my thoughts that Mobians were a more advanced race than they were. She made me see that I was contradicting myself by me allowing hating these offshoots. If I was to go on and make amends for the future, I had to dispose of the notion of Mobian exceptionality and needed to see that nobody's perfect. I've known this for quite some time, but why did it take so long for me to accept it? I think meeting the Primes might have set things in motion and an internal defense mechanism wanted me to think that we were still above others when it came to care, logic and reasoning. Just think objective for the times ahead, Sal. Think objective.

Actually the real reason I'm writing this entry is because I received a special guest I would have never thought I would have seen under normal circumstances… but there he was.

Miles and I were having a walk in the grounds after the snowstorm. A bit of snow covered the ground, but we were perfectly fine. It was chilly out so we did wear some warm padded jackets and insulated pants. I forget what we were talking about. I think it might have been a snowball fight. Figures. I can remember whole conversations, but not small details. Anyway, we were enjoying a stroll in the palace grounds, when we saw a shape that made us jump.

Standing in front of us wearing a long fur cloak was a Sangheili… an Elite. Tails got scared right away. He was never comfortable around aliens, and something about these guys just freaked him out more than anything I ever saw.

The Sangheili didn't see us right away, but twisted his head around as soon as he heard Tails grasp. He was a tall man, easily eight feet in height and looked at us with dark eyes and clamped jaws – Sangeili have four jaws that move independently with shark-like teeth on them. He noticed Tails cowering, and surprisingly, said softly to us, "Be not afraid. I will not hurt you."

I didn't expect this at all. The Elite spoke good English. _Great_ English at that, considering that he had four sets of lips to move around. Tails still didn't buy it and backed away. He was too scared to speak. Again, the Elite surprised me and knelt down with a hand out, almost as if he was talking to an animal.

"I am sorry. I did not mean to scare you."

"No, _I'm_ sorry." I spoke up. "He's just not used to seeing other races."

The Sangheili asked, "What is your name, child?"

"Miles."

"Milesh..." I noted that he had a bit of a slurring at the end. I stifled a laugh because I was afraid I would offend him. "There are children in my keep who cower when facing the new. Do not be afraid to come and see what you do not know, for that is where knowledge is gained. I am Hero 'Yedrovai, kaidon of the State of 'Yedrov."

I've been told that _kaidon_ is a very important term to the Sangheili. I can measure it something akin to a king or perhaps even a governor of a state. I was dumbstruck as to why he was being so patient with Miles. All the examples of Sangheili I have seen were being forceful towards members of other races and even their own young. Slowly, Miles walked out and placed his hands in that of the kaidon's.

Hero gave Tails a slight squeeze of the hand that I could probably see as an emulation of a handshake. The Sangheili's jaws rustled, and he released his grasp. He said, "You are brave to face me and greet me. I hold respect for you, young one."

"Thank you." Tails squeaked. Hero rose to full height and looked down to me.

"I was hoping to see you."

"You were?"

"But of course. I have come all the way from the world of my fathers to speak with you."

"Why are you out here then, kaidon?"

'Yedrovai looked to the sky. "I was admiring the weather."

This guy REALLY wasn't your run of the mill Sangheili. He was interested in many things that would be considered almost weak and wimpy in their culture. Was this guy _really_ a kaidon like he claimed to be?

"Our weather fascinates you? Why not go to Earth?"

The kaidon huffed. "I… do not wish to walk upon the ruins of a pointless war. Too many died for a lie. I do not wish to be where so much suffering was present. Your world reminds me of Sanghelios. Your palace reminds me of mind, yet I am perched on the cliff of 'Yedro'aye!"

He went on to explain how he thought our blue sky was captivating and how the sun moving through it made him think of poetry and songs of ages past. I thought by this time the cold was going to his head. I invited Hero into the castle, which he should have been in the first place. When we entered the hall, he shook his cloak and readjusted it. I noted some of the guards gripped their staffs tighter. The Sangheili found one in particular and walked towards him. The guard blinked rapidly and started to breathe quick.

"_Bah! Piye-no 'ach vondru__ӧ__zo!_ Be still, warrior. You are holding that poorly."

"It's alright. Let him work." I assured the scared guard. A few of his colleagues shot nervous glances

"You must grip the midpoint of the staff with your support hand… Ah, good. Place the attack hand… yes like that. Now set the staff on the ground with solid footing. _Ah, ve!_ This is good." He turned to me. "I'm sorry. It's an old warrior's habit. I do not mean to intrude."

I saw how solid his advice was. That guard wouldn't budge unless ordered to.

"No, it's quite alright. Let's have a seat, and then you can tell me why you would make a journey all the way to Mobius."

Hero and I made our way into the conference room my parents used for important meetings. This was the very table they signed the UN Charter of Alliance in six months ago. The Sangheili was a bit uncomfortable with the seat, but he didn't say anything about it.

"So, what can the kingdom do for you, kaidon?"

"I suppose there is good reason for me coming here. I suppose I will let you know first since you happened to see me. I have been named the successor to the post of Arbiter."

I didn't realize how important that was to him at the time. Looking back at it now, this was a _trememdous_ honor to a Sangheili.

"Congratulations!"

"I see you do not know the magnitude of this honor. The Arbiter is the holiest of positions among the Sangheili. It is a long and honorable tradition to name a successor after the last one falls in battle."

I had not had the pleasure of meeting the Sangheili High General, but I remember the report of how he was slain fighting Robotnik. It must have taken some deliberation, but those who made the call obviously thought Hero was a worthy successor.

"You don't seem comfortable with that news."

"I…" He placed his fists on the table and looked at the wood. "_Ah… sugtushgsh a'yet._ No. I am not. This is an honor my keep will be proud of… but I do not want it."

"Can you say no to it then?"

Hero explained that _nobody_ said no when they were given an opportunity like this. It was something that was part of Sangheili tradition for thousands of years. Even when the Covenant made the rank an example of servitude towards those called 'Prophets', they were practically living gods themselves.

"I will be the 11th Free Arbiter, yet I doubt my ability."

"How can you doubt yourself? You're a king!"

"The night I was elected kaidon, I lay in my room waiting for the inevitable attack. For when a kaidon is chosen, we are assaulted by those who test our strength and resolve. Three Sangheili entered my room and I dealt with them. The first and second fell at my blade… but the third… he was but a child.

He was my son."

"I'm sorry."

Hero's voice was low and gravelly. "You do not understand. I am a swordsman. Our children are not permitted to know their father, but I remember. I remember every child I have sired and watched as they grew around the keep. They may not have known who I was, but I know them. _Otomve. _His name was Y'to. He was the eldest. I think he was the first. He stood there facing me with a steel blade in his hand and charged at me. He swung… missed… and then I killed him."

Hero was quiet. "My son died an honorable death, doing what was expected… I should have been proud, but all I feel is pain knowing that I was the one who had to destroy him."

I didn't know what to say. I had no concept about Sangheili honor and I did not feel that it would have been appropriate to say otherwise. Truthfully, I was horrified that such a system existed where upon winning an election, an assassination attempt was the ritual event, and was even more horrified where multiple children would grow up knowing only their mothers. Hero was a swordsman, which permitted him to have a child with any female he wished, married or not. This was because the swordsman genes were to be passed around. It also allowed him to have the highly prestigious '-vai' suffix at the end of their names.

"Why tell me this?"

"I dare not tell my own people. I would lose my keep and my blood will be stained with cowardice. I dare not tell the Humans because they will scoff. I tell you… because I trust you. Do not tell the Humans about this."

"I promise, Hero. Your secret's safe with me." I nodded and gave him a smile. The kaidon gave an imitation of the smile, but didn't do a very good job.

"Princess, I will rest in the Mausoleum of the Arbiter when my time comes, but I cannot have my people question me. I will find the killer of the last Arbiter."

"Kaidon, I urge you, do not kill him then. He needs to be brought to justice."

"The same justice he showed Arbiter Verd?" His tone was raising now. His fists balled up. "The same justice he showed the Humans in the camp? The same justice that...! The… same justice I showed my son?"

He got up and paced. "_Va yeg __ӧstom go-sho. Yo tosh fávsh_ _g__áò__m! Ye!_" He turned to face me. "I still need time. This is sudden for me. I apologize, the Humans will be arriving soon. He clipped his cloak back on. "I must go on waiting for them. Thank you for listening, Highness."

"Thank you for telling me, kaidon."

He grunted in approval. "Oh, and Hero?"

He looked at me again with jaws slightly apart. "You're a good man. I think you're exactly what an Arbiter should be: Honest, willing, and honorable."

He chuckled and went out of the front doors back into the cold.

Well if anything was true, it was this: I had some reading to do on the Sangheili, and find out where the State of Yedrov is on Sanghelios. I have to visit a new Arbiter in a few weeks time, and I definitely want him on my good side.

::END ENTRY::


	78. Entry 78: January 27, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: January 27, 3235<br>Entry Made 2020 (8:20 PM)  
>Dear Journal,<p>

Man, these storms just won't let up! This is the third one this week, and probably the strongest one yet! I've been snowed in, so that means no going out for me. Roads are horrible, there are reports of accidents, and no shuttles are allowed to fly while the winds are blowing at the speeds they are, not to mention the blinding snow.

It's because of this that Dr. Julliani came to see me today. I was a bit surprised to see her with her coat slung over her arm, but she explained that what she did wasn't flying, simply falling with slight movements. We had our session in the dining hall today where we were tucked away in one corner of the room. After our last session on the Indomitable she pinpointed what she believed to be the root of my problem: it went back to the day Julian Kintobor turned on us and attacked our own people.

Dr. Julliani explained that I didn't as much have an aversion to killing, but rather a fear of it. She said that I was probably afraid of ending up like Robotnik, who has little in the way of ethics, and more in the ranges of wonton destruction. I had it bottled within myself that I wanted to avoid any path that was taken by him at all costs. I think she was right. What was my ultimate fear but losing to Robotnik? I knew he would turn us into drones where I would be forced to commit against my will. THAT is what scares me…

So then came the obvious question: how does one get over such a fear of walking another's path?

She said that this was a much harder question to answer because the solution was different for every person, courtesy of the miracle of uniqueness. Some people chose to confront their fears, which I knew didn't really work. Others try to eliminate it due to conditioning, but I would think that the fear of Robotnik wasn't something that could be…conditioned or eliminated entirely. It was one of our driving motives to creating the Freedom Fighters after all.

I suppose we can come to the root of getting over… whatever block there is in my head, but for the time being I want to focus on some happier news: there's an exchange program between young students going on between Mobius, Earth, and a few colony planets. This is something that I feel would give some University students something to write about because it will allow us to look into the primary school students in their education processes. It will allow us to see how similar, or conversely, how different our school systems are and the values that they instill in us.

At first glance, I would have assumed that there was a patriotic edge instilled into every Human child to love their governments, their planets, or something of that nature, but then I suppressed that. I find myself actually unable to make a point about that since most of my interaction with Humans has either been through a military or political atmosphere. I haven't really had a whole lot of interaction with civilians and common folk.

Hmm… I'm going to have to change that. I'll talk to Sonic more about this. I think that he will have an idea about it. He's probably the most 'common' person I know. What I mean is… he has a free spirit and drive that I have not seen with my other associates…

And now I feel bad for saying that because once again, I do not have the research necessary to make such a claim. I have not seen the social lives of other Humans outside of their starship, so I need to change that. Sonic might be a helpful window into your average Mobian's psyche, but I need a window into your Human psyche.

And wouldn't you know it; I can volunteer a perfect candidate.

The Lieutenant has qualities that I can determine to be 'common' if I can use a vulgar term. He jokes, has strong feelings, but most importantly, has personal thoughts on matters. Given what I know about Human militaries, this can almost be a death sentence. Personal opinions are often stamped out in basic training in order to get a uniformity going on, but Christopher… he's resisted.

Just talk to him on anything and he won't hesitate to let you know about it. Are you right, or are you wrong? I know for a fact that he condemned his government's actions on Talahan for multiple reasons. First because it was an overwhelmingly large amount of force for a mining planet, and secondly… it was personal for him. Remember the story about Michelle Anderson? He blames his government for that.

It makes me wonder what he would think about an action of mine. Would he call me out on something I did? Probably. He's not afraid. Or rather… I think he is afraid. I think he's more afraid of turning into one of the crowd. He's afraid of losing his humanity. He's afraid of losing what makes him unique. He's lost many things, and this must be precious to him.

It's something like that that would make you feel like you're dying inside.

Dying…

Oh man. I can't believe I've been dancing around the issue. I was making complex excuses for what was really going on inside my head. I'm not afraid of Robotnik… or losing my uniqueness…

I…

I'm afraid to die.

::END ENTRY::


	79. Entry 79: February 2, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: February 2, 3235<br>Entry Made 1756 (5:56 PM)  
>Dear Journal,<p>

I just got the news. The Master Emerald was just attacked!

Ever since we moved the emerald to that Mayan pyramid, we thought that we would be putting it in the unlikely place on Earth. I didn't pick the place though. It was a group decision that we all agreed on. Why a Mayan temple? Perhaps it was symbolic, and perhaps the old factor of hiding something in plain sight would have been good. But we never expected what would have happened.

Who did we hide the Emerald from? Robotnik. Who did we not expect to find?

Local insurgents.

I'll play the log. Maybe this will make much more sense when we go through this a few times:

[[PLAY LOG]]

[TIMESTAMP 2.1.3235.0040]

[HELMETCAM – 09790-07802-CV]

V: Recording this for analysis. I've just been woken up by the perimeter alarm that something's heading this way. Unfortunately it didn't say how big this object was. Knuckles is awake as well and is assisting me. Just stopped by weapon locker for a little present. You ready?

K: It could just be a boar or something.

V: Yeah, and maybe it could be Humpty Dumpty, PhD himself.

K: I'm saying we could be overreacting.

V: Where's your gun?

K: We don't NEED them.

V: Just in case.

K: Fine. I won't argue. When you shoot local wildlife because it looked at you funny, don't come complaining to me about it.

V: No problem, Crystal Guardian. Let's move! Second Sensor just went red.

[Vennettilli and Knuckles follow prompts to exit. It is past midnight, local time. Air temperature 29 Degrees. Humidity: 93%]

K: I heard noises over by the South.

V: OK. You can see better than I can. I'll cover you.

K: Sure. Stay behind me. If you're going to hold that thing, don't point it at me.

V: Wouldn't dream of it.

K: I hear something.

V: Is it that boar you were talking about earlier? God I could use a side of pork right about now…

K: No. Voices.

V: Then they're Mobians of course. Talking pigs used to be a joke you know.

K: Quiet! I… I can't understand them.

UKN: Deja el camion.

V: I think I can make out some of it.

UKN: Tomó siglos para encontrar este lugar.

V: They're speaking Spanish. They're locals.

K: Locals? I thought you said this place would be hidden!

V: Yeah, I said off the grid. I didn't say 'invisible'! Anybody with a sharp pair of eyes can come in here.

K: Are they here to sightsee?

V: I don't know, but my gut's telling me 'hazy'

K: What?

V: Nevermind. We can activate the lights. Give them a good scare, then we politely ask them to leave.

K: You're the boss.

V: And you're the rock-sitter.

[The Lieutenant taps his wrist unit. Three floodlights on the pyramid flash on. The 'guests' fumble in confusion]

UKN: ¿Qué diablos es esto?!

UKN1: Nadie iba a estar aquí!

UKN2: Tenemos que ir ...

UKN: ¡No! ¡Quédate!

V: FREEZE!

K: They have guns!

V: Those are the most heavily armed tourists I have seen in my life, aren't they, Knucks?

K: What's Spanish for 'shut up'?

V: This is government property! Esta es la propiedad del gobierno! Leave now!

UKN2: Sólo somos turistas!

V: (to Knuckles) Yeah, bullshit. (To 'guests') Los turistas con AKs?

[No answer]

V: Usted está en la propiedad de la UNSC! Usted está cometiendo un delito federal! Deja ahora o nos va a disparar!

K: (whispering). There's more coming from the trees.

V: Yeah, I see them…

UKN2: No hay dos!

V: Wrong! Dos francotiradores en el techo, dos en la pared del fondo, y diez hombres en el interior. Ahora se encuentra en violación! I'm going to count to three! Leave, or die!

UKN: DISPARA!

V: Aw crap, get down!

[GUNFIRE]

V: Worst. Tourists. Ever.

K: Give it a rest already!

V: Get your head down already!

K: Can we call for help?

V: Not with our radios. Off the grid, remember? Only point to point laser COMs

[RICOCHET, Both duck]

V: Man that was close!

K: What?

V: Oh, sorry about the tinnitus, buddy.

K: What?!

V: Go inside and call for backup! I'll keep their heads down!

K: Huh? OK. Yeah, I'll call for help. Aren't you going to take these guys down?

V: Are you kidding? These guys were hired no doubt! I want to know by whom!

K: Good luck.

V: Won't need it. I'll keep their heads down.

[Knuckles leaves into the pyramid. HUD data confirmed: Fifteen active hostiles, 1 technical, 1 mobile dolly]

V: For log purposes: enemy seeking to attack with superior numbers. They're chipping away but their hardware is barebones. WHOA! Alright, you guys want to play rough? I've got some teeth too.

[Vennettilli activates remote scout turret (Model MDA/775), Mode: SUPPRESSION]

V: Sic 'em.

[Turret deploys on far wall. Random round vector. Combatants run for cover – no casualties]

V: While that has them covered, I'll attempt to pick off some of their men… please hold on the line. I'm reckless, not crazy.

[Vennettilli sneaks off around back of pyramid while scout turret engages hostiles. Quickly, the Lieutenant snaps the light off. Hostiles dazed and confused.]

UKN4: Esto es una estupidez!

[One hostile wounded, still alive. Lieutenant attacks and knocks out three hostiles. 12 remaining]

UKN: Raoul y Ben están abajo!

UKN3: Tienen Gonzales!

UKN4: ¿Dónde está—AAAH!

V: Boo.

[Fourth hostile eliminated. Knocked out via blunt force impact of weapon stock across forehead]

[Vennettilli is spotted]

UKN: LO ENCONTRÉ!

V: Uh oh…

[Lieutenant runs while gunfire follows him. A round deflects off his shoulder pauldron and he stumbles. He picks a flashbang off his belt and primes it. He covers his eyes with his hand]

(BANG!)

(SCREAMS)

[Lieutenant fires on closest men. Three drop immediately, KIA. He flees into group of trees. Dazed men are immediately suppressed by the MDA turret. Four throw down their arms and lay on their stomachs, pretending to be dead. Scout turret regards targets as neutralized. Four men remain standing]

UKN 2: Estoy fuera! Esto es una estupidez!

[Hostile attempts to flee area, panicked]

UKN: ¡Vuelve aquí, Ortega!

[Leader shoots fleeing Ortega in upper leg. Hostile Ortega drops holding leg]

V: If there's one thing I hate, it's a man who's willing to shoot his own. I have something special for you…

[Lieutenant keys on the flood lights… all seven of them]

[Men cry out as blinding light shocks them]

UKN1: No más! No más!

UKN: ¡Cobardes! Co… oh no…

[Pelican gunship descends into area, searchlight scanning the area]

V: Well you took your sweet time!

K (on PA): To all surviving hostiles, drop your weapons now! We have you surrounded!

[Hostiles quickly surrender. Leader looks at the gunship and aims at the craft. The Pelican fires a warning shot four feet to the leader's left, making a thirty centimeter divot in the soil. Leader immediately throws gun to the ground and gets on knees. Knuckles and Vennettilli meet.]

K: You cleaned up nice.

V: They can act as tough as they want. They're amateurs who barely know a stock from a mag.

UKN: Dos hombres! Sólo dos hombres! ¿Cómo?

V: Dos hombres, una torreta, la oscuridad, y una dropship!

UKN: Wh… what ARE you?!

K: Someone you don't want to get angry. (to V) You know what, I'll start carrying a weapon from now on. Just in case.

V: Just in case. Dropship: thank you for breaking up the fight!

PILOT (on PA): Happy to lend a hand. You boys look like you got everything under control now.

V: You have a medic on board?

PILOT: Affirmative.

V: Set down and have him take a look at some of these men. We have five down and three KIA. Have a gunner keep an eye on the others. If the move, give them a warning shot. I want all of these guys alive.

PILOT: Acknowledged. Setting down.

V (To hostiles): Cooperar y no se verán perjudicados.

MANY HOSTILES: Si. Si. OK!

V: For log purposes: As of 0040 local time, Fifteen men attempted what I assume was a robbery of our facility and failed MISERABLY. These… rent-a-cops¬ came in thinking they could take the Master Emerald and were in for a nasty surprise. Without the aid of Knuckles the Echidna for calling for assistance, this fight would have lasted a lot longer, and more bodies would have piled out. In my report, I will fully outline these jokers' mistakes and what they could have done to fix them. Interrogations will begin at dawn. Oh, and for anybody possibly viewing this as a recording, you're welcome for the show.

[END PLAYBACK: Timestamp +40:02:10]

[CLOSE FILE]

Whoever attacked the Master Emerald really had it in their heads that the men they sent to take it would be enough. Even I could see that these people had very little combat knowledge or experience to simply take it from a fortified position. I'm more worried that they were able to find the location of the camp on their own, which makes me think they were cooperating with scouts or locals who probably knew the area. That, or there's a leak in our ranks. I'm quick to discount the last one though.

I had no doubt in my mind that whoever would have went into that camp would have gotten a beating, but when there was fifteen against two… actually one, that I would have found to be nail-biting. I really thought Chris would have ended up in a hospital… or a grave. He was correct. It WAS reckless, but he used his environment to his advantage and BEAUTIFULLY at that. The way that he used rapidly changing light levels to mess with the bad guys' vision was a great tactic because it didn't give them any time to readjust! I don't think this was the first time that he's done something like this… especially in a jungle. Could I possibly be seeing what he was like back on that swamp planet? Outsmarting an indigenous enemy in their own environment? He's been trained well.

I… I wonder what Sonic would have done here? He probably would have just run around and knocked all of them out in a flash of an eye. It would probably have been better… but the Human's smart, and Knuckles is brave. I disagree with Chris' decision to have him make the call for help, but it worked. They all did good work.

As soon as the snow clears, I'm getting on the first shuttle to Earth. I want to hear what those rent-a-cops have to say for themselves, and more importantly, who hired them to get that Emerald.

::END ENTRY::


	80. Entry 80: February 3rd, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: February 3rd, 3235<br>Entry Made 1314 (1:14 PM)

Dear Journal,

I've recently just got back from the interrogation of the surviving members of the attack team that moved in on the Master Emerald a couple days ago. I left as soon as I got word the guys were attacked, and I saw that things were well under control. Soon after that first dropship landed, a second with prison guards touched down and made sure they were put into a separate part of the pyramid where they could be guarded and interrogated. We were sure to steer them away from the chamber holding the Master Emerald.

In short, I can say that these guys barely know anything about what they were getting, and why they were getting it. Allow me to explain: When I walked into the pyramid on a balmy 104 degree day, I was thinking we were on the trail of a huge international crime ring or something like that. I thought we were getting something big… but no… hired thugs who were given cash and told to do a job.

I came in on the third interview, which happened to be the leader as Chris was able to point out. He was dressed like a soldier, but had his 'uniform' in shambles. The name 'Guzman' was stitched on his fabric. He was really trying hard to look like a soldier, and it was disturbing.

"This is the leader?"

"Yeah. That's him. Luis Guzman, aged 43, career mercenary and unsuccessful applicant into the UNSCDF."

"What do you mean, unsuccessful?"

Chris shrugged. "It turns out that Mr. Guzman was diagnosed with a bout of schizophrenia and was encouraged to seek treatment to get in. However, he didn't have the money, and was kicked out of recruiting. He apparently held a grudge and carried it with him for about fifteen years."

Guzman mumbled something in Spanish... a language I didn't speak. I let Chris translate for me while I asked him the questions.

"Do you know what you were sent to find?"

"¿Sabes lo que te estabas?"

Guzman answered, "No."

"Do you know who paid you?"

"¿Sabe usted quién le paga?"

"No."

"Are ANY of your men soldiers?"

"¿Son sus soldados hombres?"

"Muchachos locales." Guzman grumbled.

Chris looked at me. "He says that they were local recruits; boys from his town most likely."

"What town was that?" I asked.

"Irrelevant." Chris said. "That's not important. I have a question for him though. ¿Estabas paga?"

"What?" I asked.

The Marine said, "I'm asking him how he was paid."

"Maletín."

"No, no. I mean, with what currency? Dollars? Pesos?"

"Créditos."

He was paid with credits, basically the 'universal currency' among Humans and some of the other races. Dollars or pesos might not have had weight on any of the other worlds, so a universal one that could be recognized anywhere could be used. That seemed to frustrate Chris. I asked him why.

"Credits can be transferred electronically, meaning that a face to face would not have been necessary. Sure, that can mean the same for any other currency, but that means he could have been paid from off world. Did you speak to him? Usted habló con el hombre que lo contrató? The guy who hired you?"

"Sólo en los mensajes. Nunca en la persona."

"Well, I figured as much. They never actually met, but exchanged messages."

"How long?"

He seemed to understand me.

"Un mes."

A month. I understood that one well enough.

We were there asking him other questions such as where he lived, what vehicles he owned, why he used old weapons to attack us, why he would shoot one of his fleeing men, and they got us small answers, usually a sentence or two. Clearly, Guzman was not willing to talk with us. After being defeated and embarrassed, I could hardly blame him.

The Human asked me to join him in the room with the Emerald. One of the guards took his spot watching the mercenary so he wouldn't try anything funny. I've learned by watching Sonic that anybody is still a threat when their hands are bound. We reached the glowing rock where we found Knuckles looking at a portable computer analyzing the jewel for any anomalies.

"How's the rock?"

"Still fine. No problems with the vibrations I'm getting."

Chris shuffled. "How about the um... that thing you said was inside?"

"Nothing."

"Good. That gave me nightmares for weeks. I thought it was gonna burst out and eat my feet or something."

Knuckles chuckled. "Your feet? Not likely. Your soul? Delicious."

"Stop it. You KNOW I'm afraid of that little ghost story. You KNOW I hate it when you say it in front of me."

"The Destroyer of worlds&... the God of Chaos&..." The echidna chanted, almost like an elder on Angel Island.

"Princess..." he said quickly blocking him out, "He's a mercenary; he must have been bought out. I'm not saying that it's 'You Know Who'. It could have even been a Kig-Yar pirate king who got wind of something special down here. What if we follow the lead?"

"Human, you just said yourself that the Credits are untraceable."

"I never said that. I said that they could be transferred from offworld, making them a bit more expensive to send directly. Payments are usually made by courier ship. If we don't find records of that, then someone's either paying on this planet, or more likely, beaming him the money through Slipspace. We just need to convince our friend here to let us in on who hired him."

"Let me handle that."

"Good luck. He hasn't said anything yet, and I was grilling him for about twenty minutes before you showed up. The 'bad cop' routine wasn't doing so good. None of his cronies could, or would, say anything to me. I was considering requesting some interrogation specialists from Command."

"Not necessary, Human. I've broken quite a few badnik agents in my time."

And I love this part, he then said, "Heh, fifty dollars out of my wallet right here says you can't."

So, I did, in the humblest way I could possibly manage. I carefully walked into the room. Guzman looked at me. He wasn't shocked with my appearance. He sneered with a laugh. "Una niña pequeña ardilla!" He burst into laughter. "¿Quieres una tuerca?"

Chris coughed. "He... uh... wants to know if you want a nut."

I smiled. "That's funny!" I sat down. Then I leaned across the table and yelled into his face, "**WHO HIRED YOU?!**"

The look on his face! Oh... _PRICELESS_!

"**WHO HIRED YOU?! I WANT IT IN ENGLISH! ENGLISH! I KNOW YOU SPEAK IT, JACKASS!**"

Guzman, for lack of a better expression, was totally lost. I think this was the low point of his day. He was staring into the face of a furry alien that was shouting at him. I'm pretty sure our noses were almost touching too.

"OK! OK!" He stammered. "I'll talk...!"

"How the _fuck_did you do that?" Chris said, mouth agape.

Guzman's lip quivered. He was shocked to even see such a radiant face display such anger, and make no mistake - I was plenty angry.

"We... we don't know who... paid us..."

"**WHO'S 'WE'?!**" I roared.

"I... I mean, 'I', never knew who was making the payments!"

"You said you got them by briefcase? Well, WHERE? **WHERE**did you get the briefcase from?"

"There... there was a transmitter in the briefcase. There was no money. I was just supposed to enter a code into it to transfer the credits!"

"Do you still have the briefcase?"

"I..."

"Well? _Do you, or don't you?_"

"YES! I have it! It's in my home!"

"Where is it?!" I shouted. Guzman flinched. Huh. Some mercenary. I've seen six year olds with more backbone.

"Santa Cruz! I come from the nearby city! I'm on the outskirts though! Siennega Morelos! Near the mountains!"

Chris tapped his ear phone. "Did you get all that?" He waited for a confirmation. "Good. Thank you, sir." He looked at me with a smile. "Siennega Morelos, population twelve hundred and thirty, it's a part of the larger city, but not as well off."

"Now we know where to go at least. We can question some of the locals about where Mister Guzman keeps his stash." I smiled. "I've got no more use for this guy. He's yours."

The two awestruck guards handcuffed Guzman to take him to the holding area. The younger of the two, about eighteen by the looks of him looked at me and said, "Can I have your autograph?"

Was I going to say no? I was a benchmark for interrogators everywhere!

So after I scribbled my signature on a slip of paper, I tapped my Human on the shoulder. "I believe we are forgetting something, my friend?"

"Oh." He almost grumbled it. He reached into his back pocket, drew his wallet out and placed an American fifty in my hand. "Take your dirty money and trouble me no more."

"Not so fast." I told him. "I'm not going anywhere without a translator. Ugly may have spoken some English, but I'm willing to bet than most people around there would not."

"Are you ordering me to tag along?"

I folded my arms smugly. "Well, considering that this is not a combat op, yeah, I kind of got you on a leash, Human. And tell me honestly, could you really stand not looking at this brick wall for a few hours?"

He nodded. "Would you like to take my car?"

"That would be nice."

"Just let me get my keys."

With that, we were off to find out more about Guzman's mysterious benefactor.

::END ENTRY::


	81. Entry 81: February 4th, 3235

**Sally's Journal: Feb 4, 3235**

by ~Chris000

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: February 4th, 3235<br>Entry Made 0650

Dear Journal,

I got up early today. I decided to do a before sunrise run and boy, was it cold out there. February, even in Southern Northamer can be a bit chilly with no snow falling. The castle was quiet as I slipped into jogging clothes and headed out into the yards for my run. It was quiet for the first thirty minutes, but wouldn't you know it, a group of Humans was out joining me.

I grinned widely as I saw who they were! It was Cooper and Adams! I fondly remember the HRT members after my brief stint aboard the Infinity in the holographic training simulator. Even though the Infinity was long gone, the Humans were down here jogging through the cold. They, unlike me, were taking a chance in short sleeved training greys. I shouted over to them to catch their attention.

"Cooper! Adams!"

They noticed me, and I joined up with them. They told me that they had been assigned to help train HRTs since they were available. As the best Hostage Rescuers aboard the Infinity, they volunteered, especially after their comment about getting more Mobian HRTs. We continued the jog about five times around the castle. By the time we were done, the sun had started to rise. Cooper, Adams and their trainees would stay at a base close to the castle. I'll make a mental note to go and provide a demonstration on hostage rescue. As I said before, I have saved many people in my life from Robotnik. I also specialized in nonlethal takedowns.

I just wanted to get that out there before we got back to the story. Guzman's lead to his mysterious client.

Chris led me to the vehicle that would bring us to Guzman's home in Siennega Morelos. While he was driving it, I don't believe it was actually his car. The vehicle was something that he called a Gazelle Recon Jeep. It was small, only big for two people in it and a few packs for cargo in the back. He started the engine and drove away from the pyramid site and through a gate that opened when he punched in the correct code. Seeing this, I wondered almost idly how the intruders were able to get close to the pyramid and came to the conclusion that they just cut through the fences.

Next came my journey through the city of Santa Cruz. I've seen people who aren't as well off as others, but I haven't seen the rapid motion of going between rich and poor. The center of Santa Cruz was iconic of Human cities: tall buildings, monorails, raised roadways, and plenty of advertisements. As we drove through the city center we saw that the place was beautiful, but as we got closer to the location Guzman described, that beauty started to slip away. By the time we reached Siennega Morelos, the tall gleaming towers were replaced by shanties.

We drove through town and the locals paid us no heed. They just ignored a military jeep and went about their daily business. While the area was definitely poor, there was no shortage of activity. I looked out of my window at people shouting about goods on street corners and watched as a lady in a long orange dress tried to usher customers into her stores. Further up the road, a poor excuse for a bar stood without any walls. I asked Chris if he had ever gone here before.

"No." He simply said. I could tell he was feeling the same thing I was. Chris came from a better off family just like I did. A comfortable lifestyle in an influential family. Going through a town like this really opened his eyes to see that on Earth, not everything was Togas and Crystal Spires. There would always be a separation of the rich and the poor.

Siennega Morelos was close to the midpoint of the hill. When we started going up the road, we noticed a car of individuals that just seemed... shady.

"Lieutenant?" I asked.

"Yes, highness?"

"I... I don't feel very comfortable here."

He looked at me and nervously chuckled. "Me neither."

As if to make our lives worse, the car whipped around and started to follow us rather closely. It was a refurbished old junker that resembled a very old car, probably an old Ford. They laughed and pointed at us. Obviously they viewed the UNSC as a joke worth making fun of.

"Can we lose these guys?"

"I'm trying. They're not going anywhere." By the third turn that they followed us in, he turned his head and shouted, "BACK OFF!" Crazy enough, it actually worked. The car's driver looked startled. Apparently all he wanted was some fun, but as soon as the situation got real, the driver realized the danger.

"Well, that was stressful." The Human said. "Keep an eye out for them in the future. I hope they aren't part of a gang."

We arrived at Siennega Morelos, a neighbourhood of Santa Cruz located well away from the main city. None of the buildings were visible behind the mountain. Chris cut the engine and made sure his pistol was in his holster. I also made sure I had a weapon on me, but I failed to see the purpose of having a weapon. A couple locals saw me and backed away into their homes. For a brief second, I felt like a monster. A stone formed in my stomach as I saw a mother grab her child and mover him out of the way as I approached.

I blinked quickly, fighting back sadness. To my surprise, Chris said, "Now you know how I felt when I went around Mobius. The way people look at you sometimes and think of you as a monster."

I didn't say anything. I only looked at the terrified mother. I wondered if she ever saw anything that wasn't Human in person. I tried to speak, but Chris shushed me. "We have a job to do. I'm sorry."

The streets of Siennega Morelos was too cluttered to take the jeep through. We had to leave the vehicle behind. I asked the Lieutenant about somebody stealing the car, so he reached into the hood and pulled out what he told me was the hydrogen ignition coupler, which told the pistons to pump the gas in the first place. He placed the cylinder into his pocket and tapped it to show that it was safe.

We were both silent as we ventured through the town. The Lieutenant kept a hand on his holster - just in case. Me on the other hand, I was on the verge of tears. I heard people crying out as they saw me. Nope. Never seen aliens before. One old man shouted in Spanish at me. Chris bit his lip and refused to translate for me. That was all I needed to see.

Suddenly, the Human spotted a bar. Like others in this part of the city, it was roughly constructed. He asked the bartender about Guzman. The man at the bar quickly pointed us up the road and told us to take a right. The house with the address 3477 would be the one we were looking for. With that, we picked up the pace. Five minutes later, we found Guzman's home.

It was locked. The two story house stood in front of us, a bit fancier than the others around it, meaning that it had plaster over its bricks, a black clay roof and three satellite dishes. Chris swore.

"Damn. He never told us the code!"

"Can we pick it?" I asked him.

"No, it's an electronic lock. Five digit code it looks like. I don't have a kit to get through it, much less use it." He tapped his ear COM. "Overlord, we have a problem."

"_Overlord here, what's the problem?_"

"I've got a door in front of me that I need open. Can you get it open?"

"_That's a solid copy. Stand by._"

Ten second later, the door lock glowed green. We were in. Chris drew his weapon and I did the same. "I'll go in first. Clear the rooms as you go."

It was meticulous. We moved from room to room making sure there were no surprises Guzman had a healthy assortment of goods following months of mercenary work. He had holographic televisions, expensive drinks, foreign leather furniture, and multiple trophies on his wall.

"Somebody lives the good life." I noted. "Wonder why he decided to stay in this slum?"

"Probably for the number of resources and potential recruits."

Before we could pursue further, a red light appeared in front of us. We both jumped.

"DAMN!" Chris shouted.

"I would prefer it if you lowered your voice."

The voice sounded flanged. "Are you an AI?"

"Yes. My name is Jacquelyn." She had two suspended eyes and full red lips, all with no face to be attached to.

"Are you Mr. Guzman's personal servant?"

"Servant, secretary, treasurer; I do multiple things for Mr. Guzman. Though I must ask why you are invading his home."

"We aren't invading." Chris lied quickly. "We had the code to the door. Guzman gave it to us."

No doubt Jacquelyn was checking our information with the state of the door. She was apparently satisfied because she smiled and blinked slowly.

"In that case, welcome! I would offer you a drink."

"No thanks, I'm not a drinker." Christophr said, "We're inquiring on a recent payment that Mr. Guzman may have received from an unknown source."

"I have no knowledge of that." Jacquelyn stated with a straight face. "Mr. Guzman provides me with the names of clients and their payments for security assignments."

The look on Chris' face was that of confusion, as if he couldn't believe it. I asked him why he looked like this.

"AIs are like gods. Omniscient. Everywhere and nowhere at the same time. All knowing. The fact that she doesn't know about this payment suggests that he may have erased it from her memory. You know, security purposes."

Jacquelyn frowned at this prospect. "Oh dear, I hope he hasn't. I wouldn't be able to do my job if he erased a client's payment!"

"It's alright." I said. "Can you show us where Guzman has hard records of clients or a computer?"

She was all smiles again. "Certainly! Right upstairs behind the first door you see! That's Mr. Guzman's study. You will find a computer inside, but you may need a password. Certainly he told you about that?"

"Erm... of course." I said. As we walked, I whispered in his ear, "What about the password?"

"Got it covered. Overlord, do you copy?"

"_Overlord copies all. Hang on, we're searching..._"

In this time, we entered Guzman's study, which had a wraparound curving window that polarized to UV light, and a bookshelf of ledgers. We went for a filing cabinet though. Like a good organizer, he listed his clients in chronological order. I picked out the last file and opened it. The client's name was empty, marked by 'UKN'. However, we had a sum of UN credits... over ten million for the Chaos Emerald in the pyramid. Ten million. If the client was indeed Eggman, how on earth did he manage to amass the money? I might not be an expert in Human currencies, but getting ten million credits couldn't have been easy, and was a tempting figure for a mercenary of any stripe. I gave the information to Overlord, but I suspected that the computer held more information.

"_We have the code. It's StellaLuna_."

I entered the code on the computer and we were in. I navigated to a folder of the computer that detailed client lists. For the one labeled one month ago, there was only a set of coordinates. '115.0W'

"What does this mean?" I asked him.

"That's a land coordinate, or something like that. Overlord, does this number mean anything to you? 115.0 degrees West. Is this some sort of location?"

"_Uh, that's affirmative. From your location that's the 115th meridian. Wait one... there's a Slipspace COMs satellite on that Meridian. We'll run a check on when it communicated with your location. In the meantime, get some more information on the conversation with the Satellite. Guzman may have actually talked with his client._"

"Affirmative. I'll get on it."

"_Be advised Omega, you've got movement near your location. Scans show multiple trucks converging on your location. Assume that they are armed hostiles. Exfil at your earliest convenience._"

"Alright. We'll move soon. Omega Actual out."

I noticed something on his computer near the client information... something that I think Overlord was looking for. It was labelled 'Voice communication'. I bit my lip and clicked on it. All there was was one line of text that made my heart sink.

'Boom'

I didn't hear the blast, but I saw the light, I felt the heat, and the next think I knew, we were thrown out the window.

::END ENTRY::


	82. Entry 82: February 5th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: February 5th, 3235<br>Entry Made 2200 (10:00 PM)

Dear Journal,

I think this is close enough for me to end this little escapade. What a long day. Another day of simply getting things under control. Just now have the techs here at the castle including my good friend Rotor have come to me to discuss the possibility of having another FFS jet constructed. He told me that we could have a frame constructed in about three weeks, and a fuselage by the end of the month. He couldn't give me figures on the cockpit or engines. I asked him an important question about the aircraft's capabilities.

"Can she make orbit?"

He looked a me with a curious expression. "Orbit? Why would you want to make orbit. The old Freedom Fighter Special worked just fine as an airplane."

"Well, that's the problem." I told him. "Excluding such a feature wouldn't be in the craft's benefit. I mean, we have four Pelicans sitting in the hangar right now that can make escape velocity and can be configured for zero-G operations. Could the old FFS do that?"

"Well, no." He said frankly. "The old Special could hit Mach 5 and be on the other side of Mobius within an hour."

"And a fully operational D108H-TCI Pelican can make that trip in thirty minutes cruising at about a hundred kilometers from ground level."

Rotor just looked at me. "Are you suggesting that we just scrap that part of our lives? That ship was part of our organization! That was a symbol of our stance against Robotnik! You're planning on replacing it with Human tech?"

I suddenly asked him if he wanted to get something off his chest in out in the open. "Do you have any concerns you'd like to share, Rotor?"

He backed off and placed his hands behind his back. "I just don't want to see our past fade away."

I got up and said, "The past is in the past. Our fight with Robotnik on this planet is done. We need to get out there and look for him, and we need to upgrade. We're taking all the technology we can get. Adapt, or get left behind. What if the Xorda showed up on our doorstep tomorrow?"

This was an easy way to win an argument when someone had a debate about the value of Human assistance, and it was true. We were hopelessly unmatched against a race that could disassemble our molecules in an instant. UNSC tech could give us the edge we needed to beat them… assuming they ever did show up.

Despite the truth of the argument, Rotor wasn't satisfied. "I think using all of their technology will come at a cost one day! I'll trust you on this one, but make sure we don't turn into them. I remember reading about how Humans controlled their empires. Have you ever heard of England and India?

"No."

"I'll cut to the chase. The Indians disliked English rule and violently rebelled. They lost, and didn't gain freedom until nearly a hundred years later. Slavery, Discrimination…"

"Are you saying that we might turn into India?"

He didn't comment. "I'll get back to work. Make the preparations to close the FFS project."

I called out to him, but he was already gone. Was he really thinking of the Humans this way, or was he simply overreacting because we weren't using the full extent of his engineering expertise? I don't know.

Aw DAMN! My ribs hurt. Oh, that reminds me, back to the story:

When I came to, I found myself lying on top of a car. The roof was heavily dented by my fall on it. When I moved, the first thing I felt was excruciating pain, like someone had placed a one ton weight on my chest and just let it sit there. I rolled over and looked at the sun, but all I noticed was the flaming window from where I was thrown. I stared at it for a second of pure shock, and then I heard a loud ringing in my ears, no doubt from the explosion that deafened me. My face burned and I smelled my own burned fur. When I reached to touch it, it burned like fire. Now that I noticed it, I felt like I was in a fire. I cried out and called for help, but none came.

I was a wreck. No, wreck didn't describe it. I was a disaster. I was sure my neck was hurt by the fall, the burns over my face, and what I was sure dozens of cuts thanks to the glass of the window. My clothes were charred by the fire, so I slapped a few out before they caused me further harm.

Look on the bright side: at least my hair was fine.

In anguish, I looked for Chris. I called out, "LIEUTENANT!" trying not to break professionalism. I know I could have looked better at the time, but I think some composure could go a long way. I kept it down, barely.

I looked around at the crowd that was forming and cried out again, "HELP!" I couldn't believe they were frozen looking at me. Or maybe it was the explosion. Truthfully, I couldn't give a damn to tell which at the time. I cursed loudly and rolled off the car to land on the ground, landing feet first. Oh, that hurt like hell.

That's where I found him.

I was lucky to land on the car that was just below the second story window, but Christopher landed an additional fifteen feet away on the paved road. I didn't want to see it, but there was a trail of blood where I think he slid.

I limped to him. We should be dead. I said in my head. That shockwave should have killed us. For that brief second, I wondered why God, Aurora, or Mobius would keep us standing through that. I couldn't find a spiritual answer, so I assumed we just got lucky. I rolled him over. He, like me was well burnt. His face was red, but he was unconscious. I swayed from dizziness as I saw a large cut on his arm where I think he was nicked by flying wood. Lucky.

I swallowed as I shuddered to hear him scream if he were awake. He might have been tough, but he was only Human. I grabbed his arms and shouted, "HELP!" One more time. Someone who I thought was a police officer ran through the crowd and knelt beside me.

"Are you alright?" He asked in accented English.

"No." I said painfully. "Not good at all. I think I may have broken something. I looked at Chris, "He's not well either."

"Yeah, I can see that." The cop winced. "His arm looks broken. Did he land on it?!"

"Don't tell me." I grimaced.

"Grab his legs. I'll hold his shoulders." The man said.

On three, we lifted the Human up. He was still knocked out, with much thanks. I was in so much pain I was in fear of passing out too, but I needed to do this. We dragged him into an alley where the police officer propped him against the wall. "An ambulance is coming."

"No. We need dustoff. Now!" I said that a little louder than I should have.

He looked at me carefully. "Are you UNSC?"

"Yeah." I said. "Acorn, Sally." I held out my hand. The officer held it and I nearly bit through my tongue.

"Torres, Gabriel. SCPD. What… what are you?"

"Long story." I growled.

He nodded. "What happened to you?"

I told him in as little words as possible that we were investigating Guzman. "Did you know he was a mercenary?"

"Luis Guzman? No… not until we heard what sounded like gunfire within the house right when the explosion sounded.

"That makes no sense. Why would there be gunfire?"

Torres shrugged. "Maybe an ammunition case exploded, sending rounds flying all over the area. I think I would take the bomb over being shot by stray rounds."

"Was anybody hurt?" I asked.

"Besides you two, no, but there are some seriously scared residents. They heard that bomb about five miles away."

"The trucks?"

"We stopped them."

"Without incident?"

"Not exactly." Torres smirked. "We got them in line. Nobody was killed before you ask."

I was about to breath a painful sigh of relief, when I heard a bang. Someone was rounding the corner. I realized that I still had my gun with me, so I took it out. It didn't feel right. Torres saw my concern and whipped out a handheld stunner in case it was hostile.

What I saw running around the corner wasn't Human. I gasped as my eyes went wide.

It was a creature with mottled orange skin, a long beak, a plume of what I assumed were feather-like things and sharp teeth. It wore goggles, and a combat harness with many pockets. In its hands though, there was a gun of Human make. I wasn't sure what I was looking at, but Torres looked shocked.

"Ger. What are you doing here?!"

The creature named Ger snapped its beak and hissed in bad English, "We hear explosion from boss-house! We come fast in trucks! What you are here?"

"Helping someone hurt. Ger, you're working for him?"

"The Guz-man pays brothers and I well!" The alien creature shrugged. "_Sey_, I work for the Guz-man."

Torres stood at his full height, which was about an inch or so below the alien. "So those assaults you committed with your brothers against Rivera's men was because Guzman ordered it?!"

Ger clicked is beak. "Rivera's men say bad things to Guz-man. Ger and brothers silence men." He looked at Torres. "You arrest me, _sey_?"

"Don't make this difficult, Ger." Torres said. "Put the gun down. It's not worth your life."

The creature hissed, which was what I thought was a laugh. "My life? _My life_?" The alien aimed and pulled the trigger. Before the barrel even bucked, I raised my weapon and fired.

It was instinctual. The round hit center mass and the creature toppled with the weapon falling out of his hand. No hesitation this time. No second-guessing. I pointed the pistol at the downed alien and waited for him to make a move. I thought he was dead for a second, but then he took a ragged breath and cried in pain.

"Wrong move." I said before I dropped the gun too. My bones ached.

I checked quickly and saw that Torres was lying against the wall, clutching his leg. It looked like it was a pretty painful day for everyone. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, barely a scratch." He lied through gritted teeth. "I'll be fine…" He spat on Ger's twitching form. "Fucking Kig-Yar! Ger and his brothers were acting on orders from Guzman it looks like! Every hit they've made was tactical, and with Guzman at the head, it makes sense."

I checked to make sure Chris was alright. _Where was that MEDEVAC_?

"You never arrested them?"

"Kig-Yar move like the birds. They can climb, jump, and run. None of my men could ever get a hold of them with the exception of that Rivera case." He grunted, tore a part of his shirt off and formed a tourniquet. "I'll be fine. I was trained for this."

"What do we do about him?" I nodded to Ger, who was reaching for the gun. I kicked it down the street and gave the Kig-Yar a boot to the head. "He doesn't look badly hurt. His armor stopped some of it."

"My guys will deal with him." Torres assured me. His brothers will be pissed. We'll find them. Kig-Yar siblings always have a ransom discussion with authorities. It's their way. He pulled the tourniquet tight and gasped. "I'm FINE." He assured me. "Jackals like to nail hostages legs."

"Why?"

"So they can rummage through the pockets while the guy's down." He smiled.

I heard screaming and nearly jumped a foot. Chris had awakened and discovered the extent of his injuries. I immediately tried to shush him, but his hands were shaking so much. He was in so much pain that he was barely containing it. His face was red with second-degree burns, and he had blood all over his arm, not to mention his left one was broken. His leg was fractured for sure.

I won't write what he was screaming, but I won't forget it.

He never did calm down until the dropship finally arrived. There was a red and white cross on the side of the hull. Medics came to us and injected us with sedatives to help us calm down. After that, it was tolerable to walk and manipulate things. For Christopher it wasn't so easy. They had to spray Biofoam on the ragged arm wound and told me that he would need regenerative surgery on the medical platform called Theresa in orbit. They asked if I would come along. I said I would go back to the pyramid to await transport back to Mobius.

I realize now that it was stupid to think that I left him to go alone.

Regenerative Surgery… it sounds like they'll stitch his bones back piece by piece to get him back in fighting condition. He would wake up with nobody around him except for blood bags, an EKG, and other doctors.

I never went to go see him. I went back to Mobius and went to see Dr. Quack, who had his own treatment for me. I sat with Human medicine on my face to encourage skin repair… I sat waiting for my body to calm down with painkillers to help me along. A few days later, today, I'm as fine as I was when I went into that house.

Why did I leave him? The doctors said that the pressure and the heat traumatized his nerve strands. He spent a full day screaming as they tried to hold him down and regrow them… The second day, he stopped, and was quiet, only responding to questions when asked.s The third day, they discharged him, completely repaired. He hasn't talked to me, or Knuckles back at the pyramid.

God, I'm such an idiot.

::END ENTRY::


	83. Entry 83: February 10th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: February 10, 3235<br>Entry Made 0630 (6:30 AM)

Dear Journal,

They got a lock on the signal.

I was told late last night during a private call with Admiral Andsworth that the Office of Naval Intelligence had successfully found out where Guzman had received his payment from, and the Admiral was not happy when he told me the answer.

"Your Highness, what I am about to tell you, you are not obligated to travel under any circumstances. I won't force your hand in the matter and I respect your and your parents' authority."

I told him with a smile that it seemed like he was about to send me on a mission.

"Well… that's what we're thinking of."

"Oh?"

"Your highness, ONI signal scanners were able to figure out where the payment was sent from. You aren't going to like it." He waited a second, in case I was going to respond, and then continued, "We've determined that the signal originated in Covenant Remnant space."

I pulled closer to the screen. I was familiar with the Remnant at the time, but I was not privy to all of the details of their hierarchy. "The Covenant? I could have sworn that Robotnik was behind this."

"Julian Kintobor's disappearance is a major concern at this time, and we do know from other engagements that his forces were using Covenant devices like blanket stealth field emitters, but we have no solid evidence that it was him that made the payments. The Covenant use agents from time to time to get what they need done, with mercenary work among them."

He could say what he wanted, but I knew in my gut that it was Robotnik who wanted the Master Emerald. I just knew it. Regardless of my personal feelings, I went along with it believing that a Prophet was heading the whole thing for yet another stupid plot to take over the galaxy or ascend to godhood.

Hmm, I think the Doctor would be very comfortable with these freaks.

I'm not just saying that because they're aliens. I'm saying this because they have a track record for destruction. Every Human child knows the story of how their race was almost wiped out when the Covenant engaged in a thirty year war against them, and was stopped on Earth's doorstep.

I'm confident that my parents would make sure a repeat of the war would never happen. There could be Halos in this universe primed and ready to fire… but have just been waiting for someone to slap the button… assuming that the Forerunners beat the Xorda… or whatever happened out here…

"As I said, you're under no obligation to take this mission." He looked at me and dropped the formalities. He was no longer an Admiral, but a friend. "How are you holding up, Sally?"

I smiled. It was good to see that Gerome could let his guard down like that. He had to keep up appearances for his crew. If you drop professionalism on the job, everyone can slack off, you know? Despite that, I was happy for a chat with him.

"My face is doing much better. I still have a few patches that are yet to grow back in, but that medicine salve really works! As for the aches, and pains, I can ignore that."

He put on that look that a concerned uncle gave his niece and tilted his head so that his moustache seemed to cover his whole chin. "I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss that. Everyone has limits, Princess."

"Duly noted, Admiral."

He smiled and said to me, "So, what do you say? We'll have a ship ready to Slip at your ready, and we'll have a full combat team ready to back you up."

"The Freedom Fighters will come along?"

"Anyone you deem necessary." The Admiral said.

"I'm in."

Andsworth nodded. "Excellent. Admiral Flynn will relay orders to you within 48 hours. Gather OMEGA up. You'll be flying out on the Ontario."

From there, I made final preparations with everyone I was going to be taking. I want Sonic and Miles with me on this one. Knuckles refuses to leave the pyramid, and Bunnie said no.

I recently tried to get in touch with Chris… but he won't speak to me. I could have tried ordering him to talk to me, but I think that would be stupid on many levels. I think I get why he was upset. I mean, he checked up on us after that fight on the Flying Factory, so it seems like I'm sort of betraying a friend. I don't know why I didn't go. Maybe I felt like I didn't need all that treatment. Maybe I was just afraid of seeing the man in such pain.

I… lived a very sheltered life, and things always went according to plan when we did our missions against Robotnik, but that's because we all had something special to help us. The people I was with were just normal people. No super speed, no hyperintelligence, no rocket boots… just people as fragile as I was.

But not a word from him? Not a single word? That's almost criminal. I wonder… would Sonic have acted the same way if he had been in the Human's place? No. He wouldn't have. He would have swept me up and had got us both out of there…

I would have been with him if he were on that dropship.

I never thought to actually feel my own fur. I mean, I never think about it, but I can actually feel my own skin on my face. I feel smooth…

I wonder, what does skin feel like? Humans take pride in being able to feel things I can't… with this stupid fur in the way!

STUPID FUR!

…

I… I… I have to go.

I have to make preparations. The Ontario will be waiting for us to arrive in a day or so. It will take about ten days to get to where we need to be. Uh… that means more Cryo time, but I think that will be a small price to pay. Ten days in cryosleep.

Do you wonder if people dream in there?

…

Hmm… maybe just the fingertips… just once to see what it's like…

::END ENTRY::


	84. Entry 84: February 18th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: February 18, 3235<br>Entry Made 1615 (4:15 PM SHIP TIME)

Dear Journal,

I couldn't stand to be locked in that stupid freezer a day longer. I just couldn't do it.

We're aboard the Ontario that's en route to... wherever we were supposed to be heading. The world we're heading in the general direction of is beyond the borders of UNSC space which means that by attacking whatever we see out there will be an act of war. Normally this would concern me, but I was actually recently made aware that the Remnant basically declared war and jihad on Humanity simply by showing up in the first place. No political summits, no warnings or ultimatums... just a low level glassing just to get things started.

Let me make this clear though: I saw what a glassed world looks like, and to tell the truth, I don't like it, even if it was in a historical preserve. The Covenant Remnant has a shoot on sight order for any Alliance ships, so no matter if it's Human, Sangheili, Gallvente, Datonian, whatever... if it isn't flying the Covenant colors, it's going to be attacked by ships.

Sonic, Miles and I were put into cryostasis about two days after we left Earth. We've been cruising for close to eight days now... which tells me that we're going somewhere very far away, like, further than 14,000 lightyears. I just made that seem like a small number, but I have it on good authority that 14,000 lightyears is a very, very far distance away, and even with Forerunner enhanced drives, it's still something that Humanity has to deal with and can't work its way around. Ten days... which means that this baby must have a cruising speed of just over a thousand light years a day when in Slipspace. Roughly.

I wonder what civilian ships get. Not nearly as much, I suppose.

I actually instructed the skeleton deckhands to wake us up about two days before the end of the trip. I like to be alert when we hit wherever we're going and not at the last minute. My previous Slipspace experiences made me kind of mentally shocked when being brought out of hibernation quickly. Almost like whiplash in a way.

Sonic was happy to be out of it, I'll tell you that much. He's not happy being in an enclosed space like this and having his bodily functions slowed down was something that he seemed to resent, and he wouldn't be able to speak with us at all during that timeframe.

"What do you mean that you can't just wake up?" He asked me.

"It has to be a drawn out process, otherwise they have a chance of damaging our bodies when they thaw us out!"

"Hmph. I could just stay awake."

I chuckled. "For ten days? On a skeleton crewed ship? You'd go INSANE in ten days!"

He seemed to get that message pretty well. Sonic is not a man to be bored out of his mind, especially in a pressurized can like this ship. I heard that he was thinking of inventing a new extreme sport called Airlock Jumping, where competitors ride explosive decompression and go the farthest before activating suit jets. Sort of a combination of Chicken and Long Jump. Totally illegal as alarms would be set off if ExDecom was reported by the ship, but he's got it off the drawing board.

God rest the unlucky souls who want to play.

As for Miles, he's been in the Officer's Quarters just reading. As he's only an honorary Petty Officer in rank, it would be unthinkable for anyone else to be in such an area of the ship... but being a sovereign has its benefits, and now Miles has a chance to show off his literary knowledge to the senior staff of the Ontario, which I know they'll make good use of.

Speaking of which, I was able to meet the captain, a relatively young man named Gregers Edkel... that's pronounced 'Growgers Edkel'. Maybe Norwegian or something like that. He was a little confident, but seemed like a nice guy nonetheless. I think I might like him more than Commander Goldberg, and he was a nice guy.

"The Ontario is a quaint vessel that can pack a punch when needed." He explained, taking a seat in his command chair overlooking a holographic starmap. "The way I hear it, we might be needing the power of our main guns if the Covenant decide to go looking for us."

That accent was so alluring.

"With respect, Captain Edkel, is there really a possibility that they will spot us the minute we cross their borders?"

He adjusted his ship cap. "No, not much. The Covenant actually don't patrol their borders as much as you believe they do, but they mostly look for a fight in a designated buffer zone between political boundaries. Border Space is the term, but as you are well aware, they really don't honor such a boundary. It's there for THEIR protection, not ours." He gave a toothy smile.

Cocky, but not to the point of arrogance.

"Anyway, Border Space is about ten or so AUs across roughly. The odds of finding a Covenant ship in our path is slim, but that's if we were doing things legally anyway."

"Legally?"

"You know, the part that brings up paperwork. We will stop at a world not far from Border Space, do a little refuelling, and Slip right through the Buffer into the system where your doctor is hiding."

This guy had it all planned out. He should be commanding ships, not ferrying around a diplomat soldier like me. Well, he would probably be seeing his action soon enough.

We still have two days until we exit Slipspace near a star system known to the locals as Raymundo. Ten planets orbit this red giant, but we'll be stopping over the one right on the edge of the system, an uncomfortable 10 AUs from the edge of the Kuiper Belt. From there, we begin to hunt some Covies.

The halls are still empty though. 48 hours of a sleeping ship with only my closest friends to keep me company. Actually, that's not true. I made a friend on this boat!

A raw recuit named Sean Tennenbaum. 19, recuit from Mars, and a little shy around other people. He was a Navy technician that was sitting alone in the cafeteria. I decided to make his day and have someone talk to him.

"Hey." I said with a smile as I took a seat across from him.

He looked up from his datapad and blinked. "Oh, um... hello. Hi." He wasn't quite sure what to say to me as he probably never met a Mobian before. "You must be the... uh... princess we're taking with us."

"That's me. Sally Acorn!" I extended my hand, and Sean took it and gave it a good shake. "You're not sitting with the other Crewmen?"

"Nah. Those guys are Propulsion, one deck above me. Techs don't mix well with those guys. All of my friends are still in the Freezer."

Oh, that really sucked, to have all the people you want to talk to frozen in time. "Are you new?"

"Uh... yeah. Graduated from Navy Technical School three weeks ago and this is my first posting. I... I may transfer to another ship later, but I..."

I countered back, "You don't like it on the Ontario?"

"I... just don't know. I kind of wish I was back home and not risking my life every now and then. Maybe it will go away."

I spent about three hours talking to Sean about why he decided to be here in the first place, and learned a lot more about different people's cultures, especially on Mars, where life is spent not imagining things as you want them to be, but accepting them as they are... such as the rustic Martian landscape.

I liked talking to Sean, and I liked learning his insight on what he thought of ships. Eventually, Sonic joined us and we all had a great laugh about our different ways of life. I think that Sean found First Contact with Mobians very peaceful, and wanted to have lunch with us tomorrow.

I told him that I would be there at 12 o' clock sharp to get in front of the line. As I saw Crewman Tennenbaum walk away with datapad in hand, I lost my smile. Sonic noticed this and looked at me. "What? What's wrong?" He asked.

"After all that talking and laughing... it's hard to imagine that we might be getting into a fight in two days time. Oh God, I hope nothing happens to him. He's a good kid!"

"Sal, he'll be fine. I know it. He's one of those survivor type Humans. You gotta be tough to live in a place like on Mars. Blech, talk about seein' red!" He noticed I was still looking a bit glum and put a hand around my shoulder. "Come on, Sal. Let's go find Tails."

::END ENTRY::


	85. Entry 85: February 19th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: February 19th, 3235<br>Entry Made 1643 (4:43 PM)

Dear Journal,

The _Ontario_ exits Slipspace in a little under fourteen hours, but the majority of the crew still seems to be in cryo-storage. I've had a nice night sleeping in a bunk, despite the fact that I was I felt strangely lonely aboard a ship that I may have considered empty. I barely saw any crewmen walking around. I even had a sudden jolt of joy as I saw a cleaning robot moving through the halls, mopping the floors.

I was gazing through the thick windows of the starboard deck I was on. I tried my hardest to make any sort of sense out of the Slipstream, but it was impossible. Impossibly black. I even entertained the thought of wondering what the _Ontario_ looked like if someone was on the outside looking at the ship. We'd probably look like a star or something… of course, assuming that there was actually a space out there in the first place.

I paid a surprise visit to the bridge about an hour after I woke up. Captain Ekdal was sitting in his seat with a cup of coffee in his hand. He saw me out of the corner of his eye and got up to welcome me.

"Ahh, Highness! I welcome you to the bridge! Is this a surprise inspection?"

I gave a chuckle. "Ah, no. Sorry to disappoint."

"Are you sure? I had an official tour set up, just for dignitaries such as yourself!"

Again, I smiled at Captain Ekdal. I had surprisingly good luck at finding compassionate Humans that treated me like any other member of the crew. He pointed at my clothing. "I see you're fitting into the crew uniform well, Princess."

I nodded. I wore a short sleeved ship uniform that fit quite well, although I did not wear the same cap that he did. "It's comfy. I'm glad Humans didn't go overboard with their uniform designs."

"Uniforms are meant to be what they are. Not overly complicated, not fancy, but simple and elegant. You want complexity, look at Roman soldiers who had plated armor that was heavy and cumbersome. Everyone in the Roman military wore them whether they were on land or sea. The way I see it, Highness," he took a sip of coffee and sighed. "If I don't have to be complex, I won't. Your uniform does more than symbolize your ship and your unit, Princess. It signifies that you, along with the sailors around you are one. Not as a single person, but you _are_ the ship. Every time this ship takes a hit, I feel it, and it's because of this uniform. Every man I have lost under my command, I felt like I was losing a piece of myself, and it's all because of this." He tugged at his collar. "That's your lesson for this day, Princess Sally."

I left the bridge feeling like I had been enlightened. I seemed to appreciate the way Humans felt as one in battle, even if they were taught that the unit came first and the person second. It's not something a person can judge until they experience it. Ekdal was right. As soon as I put on that uniform, I felt like part of the crew. I was just a cell in the body of this great machine, working to keep it healthy.

Hmm… Ekdal gave me a lot to ponder.

I found Sonic in the observation room at the front, or fore, of the ship. He, unlike me, was not dressed in the ship's uniform, but the clothes that he brought with him. He saw me coming and stood up. "Hey, there you are. Where have you been?"

"Speaking to the captain." I told him. "He's a really interesting man."

"Well, I hope you had fun. It's so damn BORING on this ship! I can't believe I lasted THIS long! Do you know when we're supposed to… ah, jump or fall?"

"Slip." I corrected.

"Yeah. When are we supposed to slip back?"

"Fifteen or sixteen hours." I said. "It's a long trip, Sonic. 14,000 lightyears is not easy, even if you're cruising at more than a thousand lightyears a day."

"Hmm. I can't believe I've found something even faster than I am. Remember how they used to call me 'The Fastest Thing Alive?'"

"Well, they never accounted for Faster Than Light travel."

"Well, I just keep getting disappointed."

"Don't start that again, Sonic!" I warned. "Your ego might take a blow from time to time, but don't forget: we all need you focused for the job ahead of us."

He walked past me with a nod. "Beating Robotnik silly? Yeah, that's one thing I'm still tops in!"

We took a larger walk around a deck or so, standing in empty intersections while an intercom message or two came up every now and again. We got into the cargo bay, which was just as quiet as the rest of the ship. In the distance, some crewmen were driving vehicles around to their proper places. Behind us, one giant fighter stood on a pedestal that would lower it through the ship to be launched.

"You ever been in one of those things?" He asked me.

"Nope. Tails has though. I heard him say that it was fun." I looked at Sonic. "Where is Tails anyway?"

"Tails? I… uh… last time I saw him, I think he was in the cafeteria. He was having a debate with someone. Ah, what was his name?"

"Was it Tennenbaum?" I asked.

"I don't remember. I wasn't really listening and sweet talking a chili-dog." He laughed. "Come on, let's go find him."

He was right where we thought he would be. The cafeteria was about two decks above the cargo hold. Like everything on the ship, it was empty, but there was a small group of crewmen who were huddled around a single table. I walked closer and heard voices.

"…no way, I'm telling you that Batman would be a much more appropriate character than Superman!" I heard Miles go on. At that point, I rolled my eyes with a small smile. They were debating superheroes. Batman was a hero who was orphaned when he was young, was raised by his butler, and eventually became strong enough to fight crime.

I thought Batman was something that Mobians invented though… you know, for obvious reasons, right? We actually have two versions of Batman. Both are named Bruce Wayne, but one is actually a bat-man, and the other is just Human. Huh. I suppose that's not so weird when you put it in perspective.

I recognized Tennenbaum as the other one in this argument. He was drumming his fingers on the table. "Well I'm countering your point! Superman, by definition is more likely to beat Batman into the dust! He has superpowers, invincibility, and best of all, laser vision!"

Ah. The timeless debate that has spanned centuries: Who wears underwear on the outside best? Billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, or mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent?

We didn't change Superman because he was technically alien to begin with as he came from the planet Krypton where he could jump higher and punch harder. This is the reason why he is able to actually fly. I think it's total BULLSHIT, but comic writers never bothered to come up with a better origin story the last ten times they rebooted the comics!

…I'm so lonely.

So, I decided to weigh in on their discussion. Who do I like? I think the answer is obvious: Batman.

Now, I know that there were about ten bloodthirsty crewmen ready to skin me alive for that, but hear me out: Batman came from a rich family, true, but he didn't really care about the money. He loved his parents very much and when he lost them, it set him on the path for revenge. All well and good, but along the way during his training with the League of Assassins, he discovered that Gotham City was in far more need than his personal vendetta, so he pledged to rid the city of evil for as long as he would live. Not to mention that the Joker is probably one of my favorite villains of all time!

Bruce didn't need superpowers. All he needed was his intellect, a little bit of cash (which I guess gives you a superpower…), and help from your butler friend, and you can do anything!

Superman? Pansy-ass. First and foremost, not only is he totally overpowered, he can only be killed by ONE THING in the whole universe, which was a chunk of his own planet. I know it's rare and all that, but why would the planet you lived on kill you? I made no sense back in the 21st Century, it made no sense in the 26th Century, why the HELL should it make sense now?

On TOP of all of this, He wears no mask! He wears no mask! The only thing that completely throws everyone off is glasses! GLASSES! He throws on some specs and suddenly he's unrecognizable! At least with Batman it was a full-face mask! And who was Superman's main enemy? Lex Luthor, a BALD MAN!

A BALD MAN? That's probably the most overused enemy type of all time! Hell, even in real life, you don't expect to be fighting a BALD MA…!

Ah…

There, you see it, I did it to myself. I deserved that. I did.

*Ahem* I never understood comic books. I mean, I read them from time to time. No shame in admitting that – to my journal, but you have to keep up all the time, sometimes you miss one, and there are some things in comics that you really just don't agree with.

I mean, imagine if they made a comic of us. That would be something, huh? Nah, it probably wouldn't sell well anyway. Everybody knows Sonic anyway. No need to get vain.

So, I'll tell you what next, then I'll end this.

Surprisingly, things got nasty really fast. The crewmen started arguing about who was better. For a bunch of grown men… this was pretty hilarious. Sonic, in a bizarre burst of maturity, folded his arms and shook his head.

Then, a heavily accented voice called out, "HEY! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!"

We all froze and looked towards the cafeteria entrance. Captain Ekdal stood with hands behind his back and eyed us with a rare frown. Someone called "CAPTAIN ON DECK." And they all saluted.

"At ease." Ekdal growled. Everyone nervously put their arms down. Was the Captain going to order them all into the freezer? "You mind telling me all what the hell's going on here?"

I stepped forward and addressed him as a member of the crew. I was, after all, wearing the uniform. "Captain, we were just having a discussion."

"Do discussions usually get this loud, Highness?" he asked me. "When I have a discussion with my bridge crew, we tend to keep it to a manageable level! Do so well to remember to follow their example!"

"AYE-AYE, CAPTAIN!" the crew called.

"Now… would you mind telling me why you are all acting like children?"

"Erm…" I fumbled. "We… we were discussing…"

"Yes, Princess?" Ekdal turned his head to hear my response. "Well?"

"We were discussing who was the better superhero. Superman or Batman."

The Captain just looked at us for a quick second and narrowed his eyes. "W… what? Are you telling me that this whole _dumhet_ was because of a superhero?"

Tails seemed guilty and looked up at the Captain with big eyes. "Yes… we're sorry, Captain."

"You'd better be sorry! You are trained professionals! You are on a ship of war destined to engage the Covenant! You had better start acting like sailors, and I want it done now! AND ONE MOE THING…" He said while walking away and turned to face us.

We waited for Final Judgement.

He said with a straight face, "…everyone knows that Iron Man is the best superhero ever."

He waited a second and then a smile split his face. He laughed loudly as he pointed out our stunned expressions. "HA! Haha! Aw, look at you! Aw _vakkert!_" With that, he walked away, chuckling to himself as he rounded the corner.

Sonic was done hiding his head in his head as his shoulders heaved heavily with laughs. When he was done, he looked at me and fought back another wave. "I… uh… think you just got told, Sal!"

"Shut up."

::END ENTRY::


	86. Entry 86: February 21st, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: February 21st, 3235<br>Entry Made 0020 (12:20 AM)

Dear Journal,

I know I said that last entry would be the final entry before my mission, but I just need to make a short one. We've docked the _Ontario_ at Gorkie Station to resupply, and I have to say: I have reached the limit of Human culture. I never realized just how different things could be the farther you went. Just to give you some perspective: ten days ago I was on Earth. I saw many things I would be comfortable with. I heard a language I spoke, and saw things I more or less recognized in terms of culture. Here, it's totally different. If there weren't actual Humans standing around, I wouldn't think this was the same culture.

We attached the _Ontario_ to a docking ring soon after we emerged from Slipspace. We also brought the crew out of cryo as well. They were as surprised as I was, because I'm sure they never went this far before.

Gorkie Station was made out of a captured asteroid that orbited behind the moon of the largest planet in the system. It was a small UNSC outpost of only about a thousand people or so. Most of the were residents of the system too. I didn't see anybody who was from Earth (a lot of them wear flag pictures on their sleeves). The interior of the station was clearly Human in design – angular structures, lot of boxy shapes, computer and video screens everywhere, and there were plants arranged symmetrically in the corridors that lapped up the rays of the system's twin suns. However, beyond that, this seemed like an alien culture. The language spoken here barely sounded like English at all. It was a very guttural language that I would equate something to German, but again, that's not really fully explaining it because I could only pick out, maybe one in ten words.

I was told that this language was called Angbic, and was commonly spoken in this system as well as a couple of closer ones in a space of around 20 lightyears. Not a major language, nowhere near a trade tongue, and it was very strange to hear. Angbic does use a modified Latin alphabet, but I can't write the actual accents on the letters here since, well, the language isn't common enough to include them. The name of the place, Gorkie Station, would be translated as Stozenge Gorkenima, and you DON'T pronounce it the way it's spelled. Again, no accents.

The station is bilingual. The native language is written first, and English is written below it, but warning labels had pictograms because they're interpreted the same in every language. A couple of civilians were aboard the station. They were even dressed weird. I think I could equate it somewhat to a mix between a button up shirt and a robe as well as pants. Some of their sleeves seemed a bit puffy, and they wore visors to help with data streaming. They were talking to each other, which I was able to pick up, along with a translation. Listen to this:

"_Ay Roltol, jow et stogen Ah Fer Toh? D'_Ontario_ ned ful fur gowenaff._"  
>Hey Roltol, did you check AF-2? The <em>Ontario<em> needs fuel for when it leaves.

"_Jeh, jeh. I zcheknem at wanher ago. Ful a ful. Davim hep.  
><em>Yeah, yeah. I checked them an hour ago. They're filled up. Davim helped me.

"_Davim, Jeh?_ OK, _Davim spoke Illu; I ventum kurg qe… um… mishes, amo, e, des power chell prepor._"  
><em>Oh, Davim huh? OK, I'll talk to him later; I want the cargo of… um… the missiles, ammunition and power cells ready for when they leave<em>."

"_OK. Prepor._"  
>OK, they'll be ready.<p>

See, what did I tell you? This is a different culture. And one that I don't think fully recognizes me. Gorkie Station is in a more remote system. True, they get news from the Inner Colonies often enough, but the people here really are not comfortable with Mobians. The people stared at me as I walked through the Station. I didn't meet anyone's eyes for fear of being scoffed at or scowled at. Say what you will about Human acceptability; that drastically decreases the farther away you get from Earth.

I know the reason for it too: a lot of places, even out here, are still bitter for Earth abandoning them in the Human/Covenant War. 700 years is a long time to harbor a grudge. Well, it has lessened by that time, but a slight distrust was still in the air.

While we were being restocked, Sonic, Miles, and I sat at a flight lounge. I watched as people moved past on official business. People gave us glances, but nobody came to talk to us. I was a bit disappointed actually. Closer to Earth, people came up to us and asked us questions. They wanted to know where we were from, what we were, and, more importantly, why there were anthropomorphic animals around here?

Actually, now that I think about it, I don't even think the people living here even know what a squirrel even _IS_ let alone recognize a humanoid one. This far out, I'm pretty sure nobody has heard of hedgehogs, foxes, or anything that was native to Earth. This is an alien Human culture.

Scary.

Just thought I'd get that out there. Put some perspective on life.

I suddenly miss Mobius all of a sudden.

::END ENTRY::


	87. Entry 87: February 25th, 3235

Date: February 25, 3235 (Local: 7th Age of Resurgance)  
>Entry Made 1647 (2:47 PM)<br>Local Time: 21:01 PM

Dear Journal,

I hate this planet. I hate this planet.

I've only spent two days… Ah… technically one day on this planet, and I hate it.

Shall I describe my experience to you? Hmm? Shall I relay to you how I feel about being on this dustball of a world? Well Journal, WISH FUCKING GRANTED!

Of course, I couldn't sleep my first 'day' on Tears of Piety. I was rolling around in my bed in absolute anger because the jewel thief Rouge has access to everything I've ever done! How could they do that? Was there a legal process? I obviously was not informed of this! If the council was the one who gave this a thumbs up, you can bet that I'll be voting against one of them come next election year! UGH!

The bunk room was communal, meaning that we had to share it with other Agents and Marines. There were more bunks than we needed thankfully. The Marines that arrived on the Pelican were sleeping here as well. The dropship went back up to the Ontario very soon after dropping us off.

Two sleep cycles meant that the policy was something called 'hotbunking', meaning that when someone goes to work, another goes to sleep in that same bed. I didn't want to wonder about whose bed I was sleeping in, but I just slept anyway.

Oh, this is a jewel – no pun intended. Base commander is supplied with his or her own private bedroom, so Rouge got to sleep in her own room while I was in this mess!

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call it that. I've been on edge. The base is very clean, and a robotic cleaner goes around taking care of dust and whatnot. When I woke up around ten or so hours later, it was pitch black. My watch (set to ToP time) was reading about 6:30 in the morning, which meant that it was pretty much the equivalent to waking up and going to work at three in the morning on Mobius.

Despite that, I was fairly well rested. I was given a pill though. Naturally, I was feeling a bit confused, so I asked about it. Base personnel take Vitamin D supplements to help with the 48 hour days. Since there's a good chance the sun is down when you wake up, you need supplements to keep your intake up. It tasted pretty good too.

Rouge had the luxury of sleeping in! UGH! How much does she know about me?! Does she know everything about the Freedom Fighters?! Does she know... I'm not going to assume anything yet. Though I will be careful what I write from now on. If it's not getting censored by ONI, it's being read by Rouge.

Neither possibility intrigues me.

So, I decided to write my parents about my first couple days on Tears of Piety. No doubt they'll be rushing out here to check out the sights. Sorry. I'm getting snarky. The day cycle is messing with my head. So, what did I do next?

Ah. Coffee.

Even out here, they have good coffee. It was the best thing I tasted after having the stuff on the _Ontario_. Seriously, where did they grow those beans?

Anyway, the Navy takes care of its own spooks. This was Jamaican blend. This stuff is apparently rare enough out here, but the base has a whole crate of this stuff! A whole crate! That's enough to last them three months, and I don't even KNOW about the other bases.

I wasn't a big coffee drinker until about three months ago. Before that, I couldn't stand it, but since my sleep cycle has been a mess ever since, I need a little perk up every now and again. I actually think I'm the only coffee drinker in my whole family. My parents have their tea, but that's been a historical royal tradition since the English Monarchy some seventeen hundred years ago or something. Hate tea. Hate everything about it. Might as well just give me a cup of boiled water and ask me to drink it. I could never mix it right. It was always too weak or too strong. Coffee? Never as complicated.

But no coffee in this whole universe could have prepared me for the desert. Rouge took great pleasure in ordering me and the other Marines to go and do long range reconnaissance. But we kind of cheated, as we sent Sonic to do it.

It was actually a collective decision. The Marine commander, Lieutenant Dublov had heard of his near-mythical skill and asked him to 'do us the honor of showing us what you can do'. Look out, hedgehog, I think you have a fanboy.

It was the happiest I saw Sonic in weeks. He was not only given permission, but was encouraged to run until his legs gave out. He took off like a sprinter, leaving a trail of dust behind him. I leaned close to Dublov and said, "I hope that he doesn't give us away."

He bobbed his eyebrows and said in accented English, "I'm confident he won't."

Now, I am aware that Mr. Dublov may not have been around Sonic for very long, but I think he was underestimating our friend's ability to goof off, and since Sonic was on an alien planet he knew very little about, I think that he was going to get himself hurt in one way or another.

I'm no chemist, but I know that Helium is lighter than air, and it's bonded with the oxygen in the air, making its collective mass lighter. So, there's a good percent less air on the surface of the planet. I hope he doesn't have trouble breathing, or maybe he just holds his breath when he sprints. Either way, he was coming back alive…

About three hours of painful silence later, Sonic returned to our 'natural;' rock formation hideout in the desert: a concrete blob that was painted over to resemble the surrounding sedimentary rock, and it was the size of a large bus. Not as high tech as the base was, but it had emergency supplies, a holo-terminal, and a couple of weapons stashed away. When he returned, he showed us the camera that he brought with him and described what he saw while plugging the picture chip into the terminal's data slot. This is probably classified information, but I don't particularly care right now, as it can help us in the future.

"Check this out" He tapped the playback button. The first shot was taken from a ridge looking at the Covenant camp. It lacked any order you would have seen in a Mobian or Human… or even any other race I've seen for that matter.

First and foremost, the Covenant didn't think to make roads, despite the fact that this was supposed to be a permanent structure. I have never seen Covenant buildings before, so I had no idea what I was looking at. Lieutenant Dublov had to help:

"This big thing in the very back looks like a storage warehouse or a factory. Seems likely given that this is a resupply plant."

Sonic piped up, "I could tell where the aliens sleep. They have these barrack things. They were all separated by walls. The big guys, Brutes, have the biggest ones, and the Gunts have these little containers to go inside."

"Yeah, those have to be their methane chambers." I said. "They can reload in there."

Sonic said, "Hey guys, look at this." He tapped another button, and a large picture of what I was dreading most popped up. Two Hunters were lumbering between a space between the buildings. Ten Grunts saw the aliens and just turned around to walk the other way. Even the Covenant was afraid of these giant beasts. Hunters also travelled in pairs. I'm not sure why, but there's a connection between two Hunters, called 'Bond Brothers'. They even share a name.

Now I'm confused. How can a bunch of worms just have one name?

"Hold on." Tails said, "I thought that Grunts weren't part of the Covenant anymore."

Dublov announced, "Hey, even Humanity chooses to fight on the losing side from time to time." I knew he was referencing the Insurrection. "The Grunts are easily influenced by those bigger than they are. Just the thought of an angry Brute can break 'em."

"So, where could Robotnik be hiding?" Sonic asked. "I didn't see anything obvious. What about the warehouse?"

"Could be." The Lieutenant said. "Seems big enough to hide some hardware in… but we need more evidence before we move in."

"Saw a few tanks too." Sonic said as he showed us a pair of blue monsters. They didn't have any wheels. They seemed to resemble beetles with searchlights illuminating the ground ahead of it. "At least, I think they're takns."

"Wraiths." Dublov said. "Saw a couple of those in my time. Not pretty, no nice." Dublov pointed out the bump at the top of the tank, and told us that it was a plasma mortar. That thing could send a ball of superheated energy on top of us. I do not want to get close to that thing.

In the end, it felt like a very, very tough thing to assault. I wouldn't want to attack this with anything other than a small army. Not three platoons of Marines. I wondered then if ONI had a way to make things a little easier for us. To be frank, we, the Mobians, were definitely not expendable. We could not afford to go into a suicide run.

I know that Chris wouldn't like to hear me say that, but I at least am valued much more. This isn't boasting.

I had one more sleep cycle before the sun finally rose. It was the dawn of my second day on Tears of Piety. And my job was to scout the immediate area. I don't need to state over and over again that ONI is pretty edgy about its safety on planets. As I trekked through the desert with Sonic behind me, I realized that tanks were the least of our problems.

"Do you feel rumbling?" I asked Sonic.

"No. Why?"

"I hear vibrations. Something big is coming around here."

Lieutenant Dublov bit his lip. "I don't like the sound of it. I hope it's not what I think it is."

"What is it?" I asked.

"You'll see in a second."

With that, the loudest roar I have ever heard in my life erupted. I whipped my head around quickly just in time to see a giant purple mass speed over the mountains. It was fast, huge, and bulbous, like a large fish had fallen from space and flew over the desert. Mobian ears are much more sensitive to that of a Human's. I had to cover them tightly so they wouldn't get damaged by the great ship's engines.

Dublov tapped his mike. "Looks like we got ourselves a CCS coming in, boys!"

Another man spoke on the mike, probably another platoon leader. "_Yeah, we just saw that too. Look at the size of that thing_."

"What was that?" Tails asked. It was something that was on all of our minds.

"That kid, is a Covenant CCS-class cruiser. Not the biggest thing the Covenant have in their fleet, but I'll be damned if I don't want to get caught in its main guns."

The cruiser slowed down close over the base, spinning around so that the bow of the ship was nearly facing us. The ship then stayed to hover over the base, waiting. I was about to ask what it was going to be doing, but then a purple beam extended from the ship to behind a purple building.

"What's that?" Tails asked, almost excitedly. "What's that?"

"That's a gravity lift, kid. It ferries troops and supplies between the ship and the surface. The actual ship never touches the ground. It's the only way on unless you want to take a shuttle. I've heard of a few ballsy guys who decided to storm the damn thing by going right up the lift. It works a couple of times too."

I barely heard what Dublov said. The CCS-Class cruiser was over a kilometer long and stood out very well against the sky of ToP. As soon as the gravity lift went down, there were purple dropships, called Phantoms (as Dublov called them), and dozens of other craft moving down to the base. That ship was going to make trouble for us. Where was Robotnik on this planet? Was he here at all? What if ONI was pulling our legs?

No. I decided that this whole thing was serious and Robotnik would want to travel here seeing as how it was a border supply post.

Rouge chimed in on my earpiece. "_Princess, I've had the opportunity to speak to some of the other base commanders in the surrounding region. New orders have come in regarding that cruiser. You are to board that cruiser, Sergeant Major._"

I nearly crushed my earpiece in my suddenly shaking hand.

"B… BOARD IT?"

Dublov mouthed a curse under his breath. Looks like he was going to have to give this probable suicide mission a run.

"And why would we do that?"

"_Well… Intel suggests that Robotnik's handiwork is being transported aboard that ship. I want to figure out for sure. But the most important reason would be because I am ordering you to_."

I could hear her enjoying the pleasure of pushing me around. She knew I was out of my element and she was going to make me her plaything. Would she go as far as to send me into a deathtrap? Did she want to kill me just out of spite?

Well, I'm not the one to give out spoilers, but I made it out just fine.

"None of us have ever been inside a Covenant ship before! How do you expect us to know the layout."

Dublov cleared his throat. "That's not entirely true, Highness. Remember how I talked about the occasional ballsy group of boarders?" He smiled. "I've been around a CCS before."

"_I'll have you given a map on your TACPADs when you come back_." Rouge said. "_Finish your patrol, get another sleep cycle, and I want you on that ship after sundown. Clear_?"

"Yes, _ma'am_." I said before clicking off my radio.

::END ENTRY::


	88. Entry 88: February 25th, 3235 Pt2

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: February 25, 3235 (Local: 7th Age of Resurgance)<br>Entry Made 2140 (9:40 PM)  
>Local Time: 26:54 PM<p>

I had a nightmare tonight. It was something that I wasn't really sure about where it came from. I know that I might seem a bit calm and collected now, but I was a bit shaken when I first had it. Uh... I made sure that I went somewhere quiet where I could record this. It's nearly midnight now, but the garage was quiet enough. So, here goes my first dream interpretation entry:

The nightmare... I don't remember it. Not exactly. I only remember bits of pieces. I remember crying in a corner one second and smiling in the sun the next. The way you expect a dream to go, right? Totally nonsensical. But the next part was where I had the nightmare. Sonic approached me in the dream. He told me how happy he was to be with me. He told me that I was very important to him but he looked at me as if he were confused. He said I looked like I had something to hide from him.

I had no idea what he meant. I didn't know what he was talking about. He looked at me angrily, much more than I thought possible. Before I could ask, he ran into the dark. I chased after him, thinking that I could catch up, but then I saw another figure. It was Human. It was Chris, standing at attention, but he was not in his uniform, rather, dressed like a normal person.

He stood still though, just watching me. Before I could speak though, he said, "I've made tough choices in my life as well... and I wondered if I could live with them after."

Before I could answer again, he disappeared. It was dark once more. But I heard this:

"You'll make such a choice yourself. Make sure you think about it."

Out of the darkness, Tails made himself known. I tried to get his attention, but he looked furious at me. He started teasing me. I told him to stop, and a crowd melted out of the night.

It became jeers, and then it became slurs. I turned to look, but I saw eyes only. Dark eyes; flashing eyes; eyes that were clearly Mobians. It was annoying. It was present no matter which way I looked. I had enough and shouted 'GO AWAY'. And they did.

That's when I woke up in a cold sweat. I didn't scream, but I gasped pretty loudly. The window shutters on the roof were open, showing the deep dark purple sky above and two moons. I looked around and saw the other Marines and Operatives sleeping more or less peacefully.

Sonic woke up as soon as I did. He could tell right away that something was wrong. He wanted to know is he could help me. I told him I didn't know.

And that was true. I just didn't know what was going on.

He asked if I had a bad dream.

"I guess. It was strange. You were in it."

"I was?"

"Yes, but I don't understand it."

He nodded in acceptance. "Yeah, I get you. I don't know what half my dreams mean half the time either. But hey, any dream I have is a good dream when you're in it."

I smiled. "Thanks, Sonic."

He went back to sleep, but I stayed awake to write this. It was a strange dream - probably the weirdest I have ever had yet. I'm going to be thinking about it for quite some time.

Maybe it was nothing. Maybe the helium in the air's starting to go to my head. I should get back to sleep. At least I got this out in the open.

::END ENTRY::


	89. Entry 89: February 28th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: February 28th, 3235 (Local: 7th Age of Resurgance)<br>Entry Made 1500 (3:00 PM)  
>Local Time: 19:14 PM<p>

This mission was probably the toughest I've ever been on… It's worse than the attack on Robotnik's ship back on Mobius. To fight machines is one thing, but to fight aliens that wield weapons as powerful as yours, and that think on different levels than you do really makes a difference. We lost far too many.

And it's about to get worse.

Rouge had us loaded with as much information about the Covenant soldiers as possible. We were going in with support from the other platoons who were ready to rumble towards the Grav Lift. We were a small group though. Stealth would be key here. Sonic was not impressed by this. He wanted to rush in, blow things up, and save the day. This would get him killed on this planet, as I learned the hard way. A day prior, a Marine decided to drink local water after claiming he was dehydrated.

It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't fast.

This planet tests us Mobians and Humans to the limits, and the Covenant seem to be merely amused by what this planet has in store for them. We were going to show them that we were a silent force to be reckoned with. Night was falling slowly, and none of the moons would be on our side tonight. It would be nearly pitch black for us. We would be able to take our dropships close to the Covenant base and sneak in. To do so, we loaded up light, not burdened by heavy armor. Our weapons were also easy on the hands too. They were made of polymers and fired caseless ammunition, the bullets of choice for assassins and government agencies alike.

I looked over the beautifully made pistol in my hand, and for a moment, I forgot that it was a killing machine. It was rounded on the slide, and a graceful attachment rail ran on top and below it. The slide itself didn't move, but a bolt of sorts did on the back of the gun. I put a magazine into it and pulled it back, locking the first shell-less round into the chamber. I was ready to roll.

Like the other Marines, I donned a short sleeved shirt with a basic protective vest, and camouflage pattern cargo pants. I clipped a single shoulder pad on and titanium greaves on top of my boots. Lastly, I fastened a cap over my head and donned a pair of HUD glasses. Now I was ready to roll. After days of scouting out the Covenant Camp, we thought the best way to approach it would be by a rudimentary maintenance tunnel system that would allow Huragok – Engineers, to move freely between the buildings. We've been told that the creatures are not hostile and will not attack us or set off an alarm. Well, that's what they said anyway. I'll believe it when I see it.

A long Pelican ride later from base camp, and we saw the running lights of the other dropship in the distance. No lights were showing at all from the craft. No strobes, no searchlights, nothing. The only way you could even tell where the craft even was would be by the exhaust, and even then, you had to know where you were looking. I was seated along with the rest of our men. Dublov's eyes were obscured by night vision goggles that I could actually see just fine. Mobian eyes are much better suited for the dark. My eyesight is actually a bit weaker in the day. If it were just a bit worse, I would be considered 'nearsighted' for Humans.

"Plans, Lieutenant?" I ask.

Dublov made his way to me. "Huragok tunnels will take us to the pad where the grav lift is. Our best bet is to find a control to reverse the flow of the Grav Lift itself and get inside the cruiser."

"It sounds fishy." Sonic said.

"It sounds tough, is what it sounds like. This sort of maneuver isn't usually done, and usually gets messy."

"Messy for who?" Sonic asked with a bit of concern in his eyes.

"Well… usually for us." Dublov said honestly. "I won't lie to you, kid. I lost a lot of guys the last time we were sent on a mission like this."

"How can they do this to us?!" Sonic said, suddenly standing up. The turbulence caused him to stumble though and he sat back down. "Don't they care?!"

"I'd shut my mouth if I were you." Dublov said. "ONI has eyes and ears over this planet, right under the Covie's noses. They'll burn you in a second."

"ONI's run by a bunch of Human bullies who think they can have their way by throwing us at everything!"

"Have you considered that they would have sent us in whether or not you were with us?" Dublov asked. "Think about it, kid. Human or not, we all have a part to play."

That shut Sonic up. He folded his arms and grumbled as he checked his weapon. I didn't like this plan either, but the Covenant probably had an idea of where Robotnik was and where he was moving his troops. Maybe it would shed some light on where Shadow was too. He's still out there.

"OK, boys and girls!" Dublov shouted. All heads turned.

"Our target is aboard that CCS-Class Cruiser. We are to capture and/or eliminate the Shipmaster of the craft. Now, I'll explain for those who do not know, the Shipmaster is essentially the Covenant equivalent of a commanding officer."

Well. Duh.

"Now, our target is most likely to be a Brute. So, when you get the chance, blow out his kneecaps when you see him. Brutes aren't pretty when they berserk. They can kill a man just by flicking him with a finger."

Well. That didn't sound good.

"Secondary objective is to try to secure the ship's Prophet. Questions?"

A Marine in the back that I ID'd as 'Bonner, C' raised his hand. "Yeah, LT. Are we likely to see any security around the Prophet?"

"We don't know for sure, but Intel suggests that the Prophet may have some form of bodyguards. If you want to bag this guy, make sure he's isolated."

A young woman named 'Mossman, G' said, "Yeah sir, If the ship isn't what we're looking for, what do we do?"

"Well, nobody told us anything. _Chert poberi_, I guess we have to find a way to take it out of the sky."

"You mean blow it up." A man said. "Oh _HELL _yes!"

I decided to ask, "Are we likely to get backup?"

Dublov nodded. "We have two Pelicans with squads on standby. If we lower the shuttle bay shield doors, we have an opportunity to get some additional support troops, but assume we're on our own for the time being."

"_We land in 5. Mount up, kids!_" the pilot chimed in, reminding us that we were in this for real. "_Lock and load your weapons. We're not going anywhere, but if things get too hot, we're not going to be able to pick you up right away._"

"Understood." Dublov nodded. "Let's hit them, Marines!"

"OORAH!"

I joined them in their battle cry. It felt a part of me now. The Lieutenant brought me up well. There was just something thrilling about heading into battle. But I was sure this was adrenaline coursing through my blood.

"_60 seconds. Stand to, ladies and gents_."

I was ready. I was armed. All doubt was aside. I was ready to drop into combat for real, and with no fear of destroying anything that looked like me, I was ready to give it my all.

The dropship's jets blasted off the sand, blowing divots in the dark tan ground. Aside from that, all of the aircraft's lights were off, and the dark painting could give the impression that the sound was an abnormally loud gust from a distance.

So, I jumped off, landing on my feet which sunk about three inches into the soft sand. Once I got moving though, I was swifter. Other Marines followed me down with Dublov stepping confidently onto the ground and slammed on the hull twice with his armored gauntlet. With the signal given that the dropship was empty, it rose back into the air. The Crew Chief that still stood on the lip watched us go.

"We're going back halfway! Call us if you need us!"

"I hear that!" Dublov returned. The Crew Chief gave us a two fingered salute, and then they blasted away. Within ten seconds, the dropship was invisible against the night.

"Move up." Dublov ordered.

From there on, it was silence. Getting Sonic to stay quiet for such a long period of time was going to be a challenge, but I was confident that I could get this done. It was my own personal mission within a mission. I was glad that Miles wouldn't be with us on this one. He would be providing information from the detachment base. He'd be breathing in Rouge's expensive perfume, but he'd be a great help.

Dublov moved us out towards the North. I could clearly see the bright lights in the dark of the desert, and the cruiser itself had its dark fish-like shape clearly visible against the largest moon of the world. A deep hum came from it which was keeping it up or something like that. It was vastly different than the ships the Doctor had built because despite how harsh his designs were, we still recognized them as something familiar to us. Covenant ships… they were different.

About twenty minutes in, Dublov told us to duck, and we heeded. Fifteen of us hit the dirt and waited. Another hum joined the night. It sounded more like a _hum that could roll_.

"_Caution, Wraiths inbound_." Someone over the COMs said. I risked tilting my head a few degrees over to the right and saw the monster round a corner. Thank God in Heaven that the headlights weren't on. It's quite possible this pilot was either green, or stupid. I chose the latter after seeing him bump the Wraith's front right fin off a rock wall.

"Don't any of you dare move, Marines!" Dublov ordered. "If you get us killed, I will kick your asses in the Great Beyond!"

I didn't see much else but dirt for the next half minute. I heard Sonic said, "Come on, I can take it!"

"This is the first time you've ever seen it!"

"I just have to outrun it and trick it into destroying itself!"

"This thing isn't a robot. There are people driving this thing."

"Yeah." He looked at me, "but I don't have to lay a finger on it."

"No." Came the final word from Dublov. "Don't endanger my men. There's a chance they'll call reinforcements."

Sonic huffed and rolled his eyes. "Killjoy."

Soon, after what felt like forever, the Wraith lost interest and moved away. As soon as the rolling hum left, Dublov said it was safe to get back up. We scanned again, but were satisfied that the tank wouldn't be coming back.

"I'm telling you I could have taken it." Sonic insisted.

"Oh God, shut up!" someone hissed in the ranks.

"Sonic, shut up." I said in agreement. Thankfully, he took our advice well and brought up his weapon in anger.

Looking back, I was surprised he was even holding onto his weapon with both hands. Sonic has made it clear to us that he really dislikes using firearms, and would much rather use his hands. But I think that Sonic, while an incredibly apt fighter, has to see that the giant starship above him might need a bit more of a tactical approach.

But… I mentioned Sonic and 'tactical' in the same sentence. Oh, you'll see,

Rouge's voice came over the COM. "_OK, we have our first target locked in for you. In addition to its own systems, the cruiser above you is actually moored to the ground right now_."

I couldn't see any moors. I knew what they looked like on boats, so I brought it up.

"_No, not physical moors… these ships are held in place by gravity moors when there's a danger the ship could be blown away._"

"Smart." Dublov said. "I've seen a few of them before_._

"_We've found about four of them, but you only need to hit one_." A blue triangle appeared in my HUD with a small beep. I had a target.

"_Get in there, lock that moor down. No matter how much they rev the engines, that ship won't be going anywhere_."

"Are we expecting any codes or passwords?" Dublov asked.

"_We're on a backwater planet with a population of just over 50,000, Lieutenant_." The new ONI agent said. "_I think you'll be able to get in without a problem_."

"Never hurts to be sure."

I never realized how long I would be holding my breath for while tiptoeing through a Covenant camp. I was jumping at every little noise. Every now and again I would hear the barking and chattering of the Covenant Grunts. They were stocky little guys that probably came up to my chest. I could smell them way before I actually saw them. They smelled like leather dipped in vinegar with a dash of freezer burn; you know the smell.

I didn't feel fear until Dublov told us to stop. One of us asked what the problem was, only to hear "Brutes" from the Lieutenant. I looked around him with curiosity and saw the alien creature covered with thick hair. It grunted in what I think was its language. Unlike the Elites that I saw a couple of times before, I saw the Brutes as nothing more than animals. If the stories I heard about their homeworld were true, they were more than lucky enough to be called that.

The second thing I noticed was a toothy blade that looked like it was forged to rip meat apart. I gulped, thinking of the possibilities. The third thing I noticed was that Dublov had slid his own knife out and crept towards the Brute.

"What are you doing?!" I whispered.

"Big boy is in our way, and he's not moving."

"Can you take him?" I asked worriedly.

He huffed in amusement. "Take notes." He said. Lieutenant Dublov was as quiet as a whisper as he went behind the massive beast. He was just as quiet as he plunged the knife into the alien's neck. The Brute was so surprised by this that he didn't even scream as the Russian Marine worked the knife around a little bit. The Brute reached for its own blade, but Dublov didn't let it. He yanked the alien on its back and sliced the knife out with an arc of magenta blood following it.

The Brute gargled, tried once more to grab the Human, then it died.

I stared wide-eyed at the corpse of the creature that had another two feet on Dublov in shock and amazement. This was also the most brutal kill I had seen so far, so I was in shock from the bloodiness of it. The Brute's dying heart pumped more of the magenta blood into the sand where it stained the fine grains. My mouth felt dry, but I kept it together.

Sonic on the other hand found a nice rock to puke behind.

Dublov on the other hand looked positively smitten with himself. He wiped the blade off on the alien's fur and slid it back into his sheath.

"Test is on Monday." He proclaimed with a smile.

The Marines behind me chuckled.

Dublov saw my sunken look. "First kill?" he asked.

"No… but I… I've never seen that before."

"Oh yeah, that." He spat on the Brute. "Fuckers deserve nothing less; animals, all of them." He pointed to two Marines, "Faulkner, Muller, get over here and help me move this."

With a great grunt and groan, the Marines lifted, or at the very least dragged the Brute behind the very rock Sonic puked behind.

"Aw, Jesus Christ!" Muller choked. "Smells like chili dogs back here!"

Sonic stayed silent, staring at the sky nonchalantly.

Next stop was the gravity moor. The building had a mast that raised about fifty feet into the air. I didn't see anything coming from the mast, but I was assured that there was definitely something coming from there.

"Command, we're here."

"_Acknowledged Insertion Team. Stand by to receive further data_."

There was only one room in the gravity moor control center. It was circular with a single panel nestled in the wall with alien letters and numbers I couldn't read. In the very center was a pulsing orb that was contained by some sort of glass. I guessed this was where the gravity control was coming from. I timed it too. It pulsed once a second. Nobody was in here, but two Marines stood guard at the entrance.

I decided to ask another question that was on my mind. I spoke to a Marine named Maria Garman. "Hey, you ever wonder why these Covenant guys paint their stuff purple?"

Helga looked like she was about to answer, but then caught herself, as if she actually didn't know the answer. To my surprise, the Human didn't have an answer. "I… I actually don't know. Anybody know why all this Covenant stuff is purple?"

There was silence for a second. I realized that I had asked what a very good question was apparently. Naturally, it was Dublov who answered, "It's the color of fear."

"Fear?" Sonic repeated.

"The Covenant paints their things purple because it's the color of blood; specifically Sangheili blood."

Wow. That made a lot of sense. No really, it did. Warriors commonly used blood as a symbol of fear to their enemies. Humans and Mobians were no different among many other races as it seemed. But here's the thing: to our race, the color red is the color of fear because our blood is red. We used the color a lot in the Great War to demoralize the Overlanders, and they used it back. In addition, the color yellow is also used to connote fear, but that… uh, that's for another reason altogether.

The Covenant on the other hand have a different design philosophy. Covenant mechanics think that _purple_ is the color of fear. To them, this is absolutely terrifying, especially to races that have originally opposed the Covenant. To me? Absolutely laughable. To think that this is a fear tactic is a bit of a long-shot. I'm not afraid of the color. Hell, I'm not afraid of the symbolism behind the color. What I am afraid of is the 10,000 degree plasma ball that can disintegrate me even if it's within throwing distance of me.

But as fortune would have it, we would be spared that fate for the time being.

"_HQ, virus downloaded. Proceed with wireless upload._"

"Will the code take?" Dublov asked.

"_Yes, Lieutenant. There's a masking protocol that will mistake your TACPADs for Covenant data modules." _

I heard a noise and gasped. I whipped my head around saw one of the door guards, Bonner, wrapping his arm around the neck of a passing Grunt. The alien yelped in surprise and started breathing quickly. I noticed that methane was leaking from his mask in puffing clouds, and his eyes, while very alien, had the look of fear in them that was pretty much universal. It knew what was about to happen.

"Wait…!"

_Crack._

Bonner slammed his bracer against the Unggoy's neck, breaking it easily. The alien's eyes went blank and its head hung at an unnatural angle.

"Sleep tight, piggy." Bonner whispered as he tossed the Grunt into a corner. Another Marine took care to spit on it.

"Cowards and traitors are shown no quarter." Dublov explained before I could voice my disgust. "I would have treated any Human that ran to the Covenant the same way." He went back to work.

"Aw, Mobius, I'm gonna be sick." Sonic groaned and tried to find a corner again.

"Again?!" Garman inquired.

"Did you hear that snap?!"

"Yeah. Sounds just like someone breaking celery. Think of it that way."

Sonic laughed nervously. "You see, that's funny, I would think that someone was breaking a vegetable, if I hadn't seen someone end another creature's life!"

Bonner muttered a curse in his planetary dialect. "Well fuck you too, buddy!"

"Fuck _you!_"

"No, fuck _you, d'escomphe yehzhog defurim!_"

"Bonner, cool it!" Dublov growled.

"Sonic, shut up." I said quietly.

"But…!"

"You'll give us away." I looked once more to the corpse of the Grunt that lay on its stomach with leaking, but then turned away. I was becoming stronger; more impervious to the feelings of death around me. Oh God, I was adjusting.

Dublov had finished the setup to the gravity moor. Now came the interesting part.

"I need a translation. Anybody here read Covenant glyphs?"

No answer. Dublov turned to Rouge back to base. "Ma'am, I need an interpretation."

"_Solid copy, we have linguists on standby. Accessing your camera…_"

A second later, a voice that hadn't had the brightness sucked from it answered. Hmph, had to be someone new.

"_Lieutenant Dublov, Lieutenant Gary Ingram_." He spoke Earth English with a British accent, maybe London. "_I'll be your linguist_." Ingram took a few minutes looking at the glyphs. "_Hmm, rather interesting grouping structure. Alright, the glyphs are arranged in a circle in the central monitor, you follow_?"

"Right. But what does that mean?"

"_This is essentially a menu structure. Each one represents things like options, status, and the like. What you want is Power Options. Check the one that looks a bit like a star._"

I walked over to Dublov and stared at the screen. It was a wonder anybody could read this.

"Are you sure, sir?"

"_Positive. Just do it._"

"Yes, sir." Dublov tapped the symbol. All of the glyphs vanished and then a second series appeared in the same pattern.

"_Um, OK… right then. This is showing the power options that the moor has. Right now, the moor has full power, indicated by the three flashing green triangles_."

This was over my head.

Dublov wasn't looking too happy either.

"How do I lock it?"

"_Lock it? You'll want the circle. Just a circle. It's blue, meaning that it's really open to tinkering_."

Dublov found the glyph at the very bottom center of the console. He tapped it once and a hexagon appeared.

"What happened?"

"_It just wants a password. If the program is working like I think it is…_"

The hexagon flashed twice and symbols filled the shape. Instantly, the hexagon disappeared and the circle was not pulsing red. Looks like it worked.

"Did it work?"

"_Yes. The moor has been locked. Now just let me set a new password and… there we go. They won't be leaving now_."

Like before, there was no way by looking at the cruiser that we could tell the gravity moor had been locked. It seemed just like it did before. But the machine indicated that the beam that kept the ship from floating away would not be turned off.

"Secondary objective complete." Dublov announced to our base.

"_Excellent work, Insertion Team. Your next objective is to ensure we have access to Covenant communications_."

"Where's our target?"

"_Aerial drone surveillance shows what seems to be a COMs hub smack dab in the center of the Covenant structures._"

"How do we get there without alerting the Covenant?"

There was silence over the line for a full ten seconds. Rouge came back on. "_We'll think of something. Hold your positions until then._"

Sonic was about to protest, but Dublov said, "Acknowledged."

I said to the Lieutenant that someone was going to come looking for this scout soon. I pointed to the dead Grunt.

"They may assume he made someone angry. Homicides in Covenant encampments isn't uncommon."

Oh great. Kill-crazy aliens; nothing like the movies at all, oh no.

Dublov called us all to attention, but told his door guards to remain where they were.

"Listen up, Marines: assuming that ONI comes through with their brilliant idea, we'll need someone to break into their communications. Not hard to do. We have standard COM taps with us for such an occasion. What we need is a runner to set this all up."

At that, twenty pairs of eyes moved to Sonic, who appeared to get it a bit late.

"Wha, me?!" he asked, incredulous. "No way. You can run out there. I'm not killing anyone."

"Listen here…" Dublov began with a threatening finger.

"Lieutenant." I insisted. He relented for a moment. "Who said anything about killing them, Sonic? You just have to outrun and outsneak them. I hope you aren't saying that you aren't up to the task!"

Sonic's ego was a beautiful thing to behold. Even when it seemed he was defeated, one nudge in the right direction and it inflated like an airbag. He straightened up. "Not up to it? Not in a million years!" He bravely smiled. "If anyone can do it, I can!" He took his rifle off his back. "No gun."

"Sidearm." Dublov countered.

"Knife."

"Deal." The Russian Marine nodded. "Someone get this man a tap."

Before that could be done, something roared. Well, we didn't hear it as much as we _felt_ it!

"Oh shit! Hunter! Hunter!" a frightened Marine called. We all scrambled for whatever cover we could find. The door guards withdrew and hid. Soon, I saw the shadow of one massive boot as long as my arm, and the leg attached t pot extended even higher.

"Oh damn." Someone whispered next to me. "Oh damn, oh DAMN!"

I shushed him. I knew that this thing wasn't going away, but at the same time I knew that it had to go.

Time to be a hero. It's been long enough.

Aaand that's where I'll end it today. Makes for a nice cliffhanger. I'm on duty now.

::END ENTRY::


	90. Entry 90: February 29th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: February 29th, 3235<br>Entry Made 0100 (1:00 AM)

RE-ADJUSTING TO SHIP TIME – 0100 hours UT (Earth Time) – COMPLETE.

Dear Journal,

We're finally leaving this terrible planet. I don't even want to look back at it as the _Ontario _is cruising out of the system. Every breathing second on this rock was filled with a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I'm not sure if it was because of the helium content in the atmosphere, or the acidic water vapor that I was sure I breathed in at some point in time, or what happened as our mission went on.

The Covenant are horrifying creatures. Not because they're aliens. I've seen many aliens in my time among the Humans. What sets the Covenant apart from them is their brutality. I've never seen such blatant disregard for life ever. The Covenant rarely take prisoners. Even if they did, the captives are probably better off dead.

The _Ontario_ is currently on an outbound vector away from the solar plane. We're heading pretty much at a 45 degree angle downwards from Tears of Piety. Once we clear the planet's sphere of influence, we'll jump out, which I think we may be doing very soon.

The rhythm of the ship is something I usually take for granted, but this place is probably one of the safest places to be in this system. The beds, the hallways, the conversation in the hallways, it's all a hell of a lot better than what was on that planet.

UKN: "_All Deckhands, brace for Slip_"

Ah, there we go. Looks like we're about to make a jump.

And, _there_. Whoa… I… that always feels weird to me.

How do I describe making a jump to faster than light speed? It's not an easy thing to do. We're not actually going faster than light, we're travelling through another dimension that circumvents light. Some people believe that there is no light in this universe. Maybe it's a total vacuum. I remembered the feeling when I travelled into the Prime Universe. I felt slightly sick. I felt like I would throw up in a second, and my head was spinning. This is a similar feeling to tunneling into Slipspace. You feel like you don't belong in this space, and yet, here you are, catapulted at speeds that would make the mind spin, travelling to stars that would take ten thousand years to do normally.

I know you can't see it, but when I look out the window, there's nothing but pitch black. There's no stars, no planets, just black.

And we must ask ourselves one question: How much more black can it be.

And the answer is none.

None more black.

Since we're on a long trip home and I would like to explain what happened on this planet. It's not a good story, but by now I'm comfortable talking about death, and I have consumed a healthy bit of alcohol, I suppose I can finish it off.

* * *

><p>We were cornered in the room housing the gravity moor for the Covenant cruiser that was holed up above me. Thanks to some of the ONI researchers there, we were able to ground that thing. No matter how hard that cruiser would have pulled away, it wouldn't be able to pull away from the surface unless it wanted to leave a large chunk of its hull behind.<p>

Things wouldn't be as simple as that though. The minute we activated the gravity moors, a Hunter decided to announce its presence to us. It was quite honestly the most horrible thing I ever heard in my life. I was so freaked out before I even saw it. It was a roar that was felt more than heard. Then I saw the boot. The boot was as long as my arm. See, I just hold it at full length, and… wow. You know, that's a big boot.

The Hunter was so big that I couldn't actually see the whole thing. It was so tall that it went up above the door. All I saw in the darkness was whatever lights were reflecting off it's armor.

We tried to stay as quiet as we could, but it was pretty clear we were all frightened. We were all scared that we would die facing this thing, and I can tell you why: On this thing's arm, there was a large cannon. It crackled with green energy that made my skin burn just being near it.

Dublov ordered us to be silent with the good-old finger to the lip sign. One of the Marines with me was clearly losing it. He was shaking violently, but I placed a hand on his shoulder. He wasn't reassured.

Dublov whispered to us and warned us in a very low voice that we should ready our weapons in case we would have to fire that thing. "Look, this thing is built like a tank. If we end up in an engagement, I want you to aim for a large fleshy portion on its back; it should be uncovered. Failing that, aim for its neck or the knees.

Back, neck, or knees. I got it. I still wasn't ready to fight it. Then, we received a blessing that we didn't think we would get. One of the doors opened up, except instead of a big Brute or a Grunt, or something like that, but a floating pink sack with eyes and tentacles. My first reaction was to cry out in surprise, but Dublov knew what this thing was. He ordered us to move inside and fast.

We did. I wasn't going to spend any time near that Hunter. With a speed I was sure would shame Sonic, I along with the other Marines bolted inside this tunnel. I didn't even give this floating a second thought. I ran. I was afraid. Very afraid. I thought I was going to die there, but here, we were safe. Nobody was going to harm us here.

Dublov made sure that we were clear of the entrance in this slightly cramped tunnel. The Hunter probably was none the wiser that we were down here and moved on. I thanked God, Mobius, whatever was watching over us. I also thanked this little pink floating alien for helping us out.

"It's called a Huragok." Dublov explained. "Little guy saved our lives. We call them 'Engineers'."

"Is it dangerous?" I asked him.

"No. They won't hurt us."

Another Marine asked, "Does that mean that they'll snitch on us?"

"As long as we don't interfere in their work, they won't give us away."

That just blew me away. I couldn't ever think that when we were fighting aliens who could really pose serious harm to us, there was a totally neutral… thing that wouldn't so much as raise a tentacle to stop us as long as we didn't get in their way.

So, that Hunter was still there. We had to run. Pretty typical reaction right? I've seen what one of those things looks like at full size. Pretty glad I didn't see more than that boot. I probably would have just shot at it out of reflex, because, you know, It's so _freaky_ since it's made out of worms. Worms!

Anyway, back to the story: This tunnel was what we were looking for in the first place. According to the intelligence, such Covenant bases had these underlying tunnels which kind of resembled sewer systems, but instead of dirty water and other crap, it happened to be conduits for these creatures to travel through, and quite fast I might add.

It was cramped. We walked for what seemed like miles. It was pretty easy to blur distances when it was dimly lit, when you were crouched over, and when you have 20 people sweating out of stress in a small confined space. And I thought space travel could be bad.

Dublov took the lead. He had a GPS signal that the satellites gave us. If the data he was showing was up to date (which I assumed it was), we should be able to pin our location even without a direct signal to the ONI stealth satellites.

"OK, we take a right up ahead." He announced.

"Wait, that won't bring us to the warehouse!"

"We can accomplish that after we mess with their communications net!" the Lieutenant announced.

"Can't we split up?"

Dublov considered it. "Not sure how your friend back at the base will take it."

"Screw her." I said.

"No thanks. Don't do wings." He cracked a smile and chuckled.

I found myself with a half grin and eyes rolling. "Seriously, LT?"

"Make it fast, and I mean it. I'll wait here with the men for ten minutes. You check the goods, see if the hardware comes from Kintobor, and get your ass back in, you hear me, Sergeant?"

I nodded. "Magnusson, Bonner, come with me." I indicated the two Marines I had spoken with earlier in the mission. They nodded a bit apprehensively. I could understand their apprehension. I was splitting them away from their squad, which according to standard army handbooks would increase risk of injury and death. I had to calm them down. Magnusson looked about my age. I mean, hell if I know. She looked about as old as Chris, and he was 21, a year older than I was.

"You feeling good, Magnusson?"

"Um, yeah, I guess."

"What's wrong? We're just going there and back to make sure if the tech we're looking for is there."

"I know Sergeant, but that's the problem. It's quick. Anything could happen."

"Suck it up." Dublov 'encouraged'.

"Relax." I smiled to her. "I've been sneaking into enemy bases since I was a kid. This will be a piece of cake."

"With respect Sergeant, you're a Mobian."

I should have felt a bit insulted as she made a point about my race being a factor. I didn't think of it though. "So?"

"You've never had experience with the Covenant. How can you expect to know how they act?"

I decided to lightly poke back. "You're almost too smart to be in this outfit, Magnusson. Trust me on this one. I've been doing this forever." I turned to Bonner, who thrusted his chin forward eagerly. "What about you, big guy? Ready to bash some heads?"

He hefted his weapon and smiled. "Yes, Sergeant! Let's go on a bug hunt!"

I wished someone would call me 'ma'am'. Even 'sir'.

So we split off from the main group. The GPS pointed us directly towards the Warehouse, which was represented by a stack of three boxes on the screen.

"Orders, Sergeant?"

"Stay on my flank, keep your guns up, by fire only if fired upon."

"Can we knife a Brute in the back?" Bonner asked.

"I'm not carrying corpses, Human. Don't get yourself killed. I'm sure Dublov wouldn't appreciate it."

You know what I like about Human skin? There's very little fur to get in the way of it all, so you can see all of the little emotions, and the way that Bonner's skin went white in the span of a second gave me some twisted satisfaction of putting him in line.

But Bonner seemed like a good kid. He was about 19 years old. I wonder who he pissed off to be sent to this planet?

The hallway to the warehouse was much shorter than the one to the intersection. An Engineer came up to us and tried to pass us. We tried to move and it huffed in annoyance. It then started to run its tentacles all over us.

"Oh, this can't end well." Magnusson groaned.

"What's it doing?" Bonner asked.

"I'm not sure." I told them. "Whoa! Hey, hands off, ET!" I actually smacked a tentacle away. I tapped my COM headset. "Hey, Lieutenant?"

"_What's up, Acorn_?"

"We've just found a few more Engineers. They're… doing stuff to us."

"_Like what?_"

"Sir… they're running their tentacles all over us. They're coming rather close… What, uh, what are they doing?"

"_They're looking for something to repair. They're running their tentacles over your equipment to see what they can fix. Push on. They'll get the message eventually_."

So I ordered Magnusson and Bonner to follow me and ignore the Huragok. The thing was a little cute though. Maybe I should have asked for his number so I could phone his home.

You know, because I made the ET joke where… forget it.

The Engineers did stop following us and cheerfully got back to doing what they did best – fixing things. The warehouse was accessed by a ramp that we activated simply by slapping a door control. No codes, nothing. The top of the ramp retracted and we walked into the area. The shape was like a semicircle with plenty of gravity cranes and alien crates stacked almost as high in the ceiling in wedges. A lone Grunt patrolled the hallway. There was no way around him.

"Bonner. Retire that guard."

"You've got it."

The young man tiptoed close to the alien half his size. He grabbed his knife and reached out with his left hand. In a flash, he ripped off the alien's breathing device. The Grunt started to choke, but Bonner covered the alien's mouth with his gauntlet and stabbed his knife into its neck. Blue blood leaked from the wound, and a final cloud of methane escaped Bonner's fingers. The Grunt was dead, and the whole process took about five seconds start to finish.

Bonner retracted his knife with a sucking nose and wiped the blood on the shirt the alien was wearing. "There we are, good as new."

Bonner clearly began his desensitization far before I did. He had already passed the point of no return. Something that the Liutenant was actively trying to avoid. It felt weird seeing someone who had totally given into violence and had let it change him. I wouldn't say a word to him though. I didn't think he'd like it very much.

But we were alone in this warehouse, looking around.

"See anything?" I asked.

"No, what are we supposed to be looking for?"

"Look for crates. Look for something that has some English letters on it. Look for something, anything that doesn't look alien!"

"OK, sure."

The Marines broke away from me. They wandered around the facility. Magnusson gave the Grunt one last kick for good measure and swore at it in a language I did not recognize. I joined them as well, but not without giving the fallen Covenant soldier one look of pity. It was kind of sad, you know?

So I looked all over this space, which was actually smaller than I thought it would be. A bunch of the crates were just purple and had nothing really interesting inside of them aside from these data cube things and some Covenant weapons. I clipped a plasma pistol onto my leg and kept on looking. We found a Ghost, which was a vehicle. I guess it was a hoverbike or something like that. Bonner wanted to drive it, but I quickly shot down that idea.

Then we found what we were looking for. A gunmetal grey crate stood out from the sea of purple. We didn't find it right away though as it was covered by other crates.

"This is it?" Bonner asked, completely oblivious.

"Yes, this is it." I said as I kept an even temper. This is the crate. Look, it has English numbers on it. Come on, help me crack it open.

Just was we were going to do just that, I heard a noise I haven't heard in a while. It wasn't a click, but more of a crackle. I forgot what it was. It was coming from my armor.

"You hear that?"

"I sure do!" Magnusson said as she stepped away slowly. "That's the Geiger Counter! This thing's hot!"

"It's radioactive?" Bonner asked nervously. "Oh shit, it's a nuke!"

I suddenly noticed that the inside of my mouth got a bit drier and my stomach started to sink. "Whoa, these things aren't active, are they?"

"Only one way to find out." Magnusson said. "Even if they are, not much we can worry about, can we?"

With a sense of utter terror in my heart, I grabbed the edge of the lid and pulled it off. Oh, it only got worse from there. The crate wasn't filled with one nuke, there were _five_ of them. Five. Oh God in Heaven, I thought I was going to die right there. I closed my eyes as soon as I saw them waiting for the heat and the darkness, but it didn't come.

"Holee crap." Magnusson said. "Looks like the Doc was really packing." She knelt down and pointed them out. "I've seen these things before. Even though they look like the size of your average loaf of bread, one of these suckers detonates and it'll take out five blocks." She laughed nervously. "Sarge, there's _five _of them in here."

The math wasn't pretty. Twenty five blocks of people could vanish in a flash with this crate alone. Oh God, I wanted to leave, oh Mobius.

"Got some worse news." Magnusson said as she gingerly rotated one of the football-shaped nukes. "Turns out these wonderful inventions of man…" she tapped a painted eagle on the body, "…belong to the UNSC."

Bonner was as shocked as I was. "He's been stealing our nukes? How is that possible?"

Magnusson shrugged. "What am I, a psychic? I can't give you the answer to everything, dude."

I regained my composure when I realized we haven't been blown to atoms. "So, I take it they aren't activated."

"Nah, not at all." The Marine assured me. "Doesn't even look like they've been touched." She licked her lips and looked me dead in the eye. "You… ah, you know… we can use that to our advantage."

"I'm calling the Lieutenant." I tapped my headset. "Lieutenant Dublov sir?"

"_Where the hell are you, Acorn? We've been waiting!_"

"Sir, I understand, and please don't be angry, but… we found something."

"_Spit it out!_"

"Sir, Robotnik's been sending the Covenant nukes. We've found five in the warehouse."

"_Ty shutish…_"

"What?"

"_You said five_?"

"There was only one crate. There could be a whole lot more, sir."

"_OK, here's what I want you to do. Bring me one of those nukes, and link the rest to your datapad._"

I thought he was joking for a second. Then I realized that a man with biceps the size of watermelons didn't joke.

"You want me to carry a radioactive weapon of mass destruction."

"_I think I've figured out a way to deal with that cruiser._"

He shut off the line, and then I saw his plan. I looked at the weapons and grabbed one. It was heavy in my hands, all the more since it could wipe a small town off the map instantly.

"You sure you're OK with that, Highness?" Magnusson asked. "Look, give me the nuke. I've handled these things before. Not that I don't trust you… but… how many of these have you had to defuse in a pinch?"

I bit my lip. She was right. I had no idea how to use this thing, so I handed her the device. She looked it over, frowned at it, and then clipped it onto her thigh. The magnetic straps attracted the bomb, making a nice stick. "I'll handle the detonation. I doubt that any of the other monkeys can set this up. Unless you want to hold the bomb, Bonner?"

The Human laughed nervously, as if he was searching for something clever to say. "Ah, no thanks, Corporal. I'm fine with what I've got."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. We'd better haul our butts back to Dublov. Oh man, when this thing goes off, they're gonna see it back home in Arcturus!"

* * *

><p>That's all I want to write today. I… I don't feel good about it. I just want some sleep. But I'm sure I'm going to have nightmares. Nothing's going to make this go away. Not all the therapy or alcohol in the world.<p>

But I can hope, right?

::END ENTRY::


	91. Entry 91: March 2nd, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: March 2nd, 3235<br>Entry Made 0440 (4:44 AM)

Dear Journal,

I'm still not feeling good. I'm sure this is a hangover, but really this pain is barely registering to me. If anything, I'm still depressed about what went on during that mission. Captain Ekdal tried to contact me to see if I was alright, but I said that I just wasn't feeling well after the mission. I hope he doesn't see that I was majorly shook up by this.

I will go out for some breakfast, though I may just sit around in the Rec Room or maybe spend an hour or two in the Observation Room. The Captain has suspended duties for me anyway, so I don't really have any work to do. I've also tried writing poetry, but that wasn't going well either. I've got to get this off my chest. I've got to write this down and get it out of my head. I've got to let it out.

The three of us made our way back to Dublov's location with the nuclear device clipped to Corporal Magnusson's leg. I still had a bit of discomfort just being around it. My Geiger counter ticked softly in my ear, constantly reminding me that this thing was radioactive. I think I understood what the Lieutenant wanted to do with that thing. We met them in the tunnel within minutes.

"Let me take a look at that thing." He asked Magnusson, who unclipped the nuke and handed it to Anton.

"Mmm, this thing's one of ours alright." He handed it back to Magnusson. "Hold onto that. We may need it soon." Dublov then looked to me. "Since you took your time, we sent about five men to go and jam their communications."

I looked around when he said that. I cleared my throat and asked nervously, "Weren't there more of us?"

Dublov looked at the ground and stroked his stubble softly. "Yes. There were. We lost Heckler and Jamal." He held out two ID tags to show me. "The group eliminated the Covenant guards, but they were caught by plasma. They died about two minutes later."

My dread deepened with sadness. Two people had died. I wondered if they would be the first. I find it funny. I was perfectly happy to mourn the deaths of Mobians, or in this case, Humans, but I didn't think very much of the aliens that we killed. Did we think we were better than the aliens? Maybe since the Humans feel Mobian to me, I feel more camaraderie with them? Maybe I would feel the same if we had a Grunt on our side. Maybe the difference between caring for a fallen comrade and cursing the dead enemies was merely based on what color we wore.

Two men. Austin Heckler and Imran Jamal.

They were the first.

Dublov told us the plan. We would use the nuke to take down the Covenant ship. If we were correct, the munitions were aboard this ship ready to be shipped to wherever. I wonder why a single crate was left behind…

I also understood about linking the first nukes we found. We needed the codes to their frequency. Once we got those, the rest could be linked instantly when we found them. So. Getting into the Covenant ship was another thing that we needed to analyze.

In the briefing I've been taught about the ships, most notably CCS-class carriers. These ships were ancient, easily three thousand years old at the least. There are two means that we can use to get aboard. We can either find a flight-capable vehicle and get aboard through the shuttle bays on the port and starboard side of the ship, or we find a way up the gravity lift, which is at the center of the hull. This is the primary means of transporting troops and supplies between the ship and the surface. I actually saw it from a distance when we first walked into the camp. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about stepping into that thing. I wondered if I would have had to do something special to make the lift work, but then I remembered that Dublov would help us with anything like that.

The tunnels wouldn't take us to the gravity lift's base itself, which I felt pretty uncomfortable about. We'd be emerging into what the Lieutenant would call a 'Hot Spot'. There'd be Covenant everywhere and I was pretty much sweating thinking about it. I think I was sweating. I smelled sweat. Probably from everyone else out there, I couldn't tell.

I wanted to go home. I was scared beyond belief. Yeah, I know I say that all the time, but this was pure absolute terror that I can't truly can't express it in writing. I was in a cramped space with an army of aliens above me, and an active nuclear device right next to me. Not to mention we were two men down already. You know who was taking it worse than I was? Sonic. I think he might be claustrophobic. He was walking slowly in the back breathing deeply. So I talked to him.

"I don't like this place, Sal."

"I don't either."

"What are we doing here? We shouldn't be here."

"Sonic, we have every right to be here. We have to find Robotnik. We're not letting him get away out there. Best way to do this is by being on this planet."

"This isn't my vacation spot, you know." He said seriously. "Can't drink the water, can't breathe too much of the air, I bet the food's poisoned here. Sally, this place is pretty much the Anti-Mobius for me. There's nowhere else that I'd rather _not_ be."

One of the Marines suddenly spoke up. "Could be worse. You could go to Hell."

"Hey! What was that for?" Sonic suddenly asked.

"No, that wasn't an insult, man. There's a planet called Hell. It's in my home system."

Sonic shrugged. It was as if he suddenly accepted Tears of Piety, although grudgingly. "If it's worse than this, I think you can keep it." He nodded at me. "Alright, let's do this job and we can leave."

"You said it, Blur." I nodded back.

The tunnel led out into a courtyard. The gravity lift was right in front of us about a hundred feet away. It had an audible hum that made my teeth chatter at the mere presence of it. We also got the pleasure of seeing a Covenant Wraith tank being lowered to the ground where it hummed away with its headlights on.

"Well look at that." Magnusson said. "That's our insertion?"

"Looks like it." Dublov confirmed. "This place is hot." He checked his radar. "Very hot. Spread out and find some cover. This is a killzone here."

The rest of us moved away from the Engineer's tunnel. We couldn't see a clear way onto the grav lift. I asked if this was where our stealthy mission ended, but surprisingly, Dublov shook his head. "Just have to order some goods." He tapped his COM set. "_Ontario_ are you there?"

It was Captain Ekdal's voice that answered. "_The _Ontario_ hears you loud and clear, Lieutenant. What can our humble ship do for you_?"

"We're just outside of the gravity lift onto the CCS. We need to draw the locals away from the area. Got any 'distractions' we can use?"

"_I believe we have a few stocked up. Where would you like it_?"

"There's a mountain range approximately twenty five kilometers away. Requesting a low-velocity strike to draw attention away from the gravity lift!"

"_No problem. We'll get that distraction en route as soon as we get a firing solution in. Stand by._"

The waiting was beating down on me. I wait for about ten minutes while presumably the _Ontario_ gets into position to fire that missile or whatever they had cooked up.

"_Shot out._" Ekdal reported. "_Keep your eyes peeled; it should be entering the atmosphere in fifteen seconds._"

We weren't actually the first ones to locate the shot. One of the Grunts barked that it saw something in the sky like a shooting star. His friends looked up to see it as well. Soon, half of the base was staring up at the sky trying to get a look at the fireball. It streaked over the base trailing a column of fire from it miles long.

"Wow." Bonner breathed.

"Yeah, wow." I agreed. Then the slug from space slammed into the distance. A small mushroom cloud formed from the heat of the impact and debris was blown into the air. The impact that hit us from the shockwave was noticeable and I felt it in my chest when it went off. Actually, we only saw the flash for a little while until the sound got to us. It was a rumbling roar that came at once and then slowly faded into silence.

Just after the flash came, a small squad of Ghosts sped past us driven by chattering Brutes as they went out of the base. Quite a few dropships went to go assist them. Sadly, it seemed that a lot of the Covenant baddies decided to hold their post. Dublov was not impressed.

"_Ontario, _we're going to need another shot. Make 'em think an asteroid thicket's striking the planet!"

"_Ok, no problem, we'll get it done_!" Ekdal reported.

Another fireball came from the sky about twenty seconds after that. Then the guards started to panic. They probably thought these 'asteroids' were the first of many. Some guard captains barked at the little aliens to get into cover – back into the ship.

"Oh crap." I groaned as we watched them float up the gravity lift. "That's not what I thought would happen."

"We've got to deal." Dublov said. "Now's our best chance to get aboard that cruiser!" He turned to his men. "Alright ladies and gentlemen. This is it! Prepare for boarding action!"

"Aye-aye, sir!" The Marines called - I called.

"Move it out! Double time!"

We moved as one mass covering each other as we made a mad sprint for the grav pad. I sprinted till I thought my lungs were going to explode. Sonic was ahead of us already, but when he saw where we were, he ran back to help me.

"Come on, I'm not leaving you out here!" He grabbed my hand.

"I'm not leaving them either!" I fired back.

We made it. Every single one of us made it to the grav lift. I looked around and saw the deserted base. There was nothing but the moon to illuminate the purple metal buildings. Numerous lights flashed in the distance indicating the aliens looking at the 'asteroid' craters. With baited breath, I took my first steps onto the pad. I felt like I was underwater and I moved like it as well. Everything felt slower, but I felt supported. Before I could turn around and say that it was safe, something tugged at me and pulled me into the sky. I let out a surprised squeal as I flew through the air. The ground fell away below me and I barreled towards the alien ship. It must have been hundreds of feet above the ground. The rest of the Marines joined in, jumping into the stream and being yanked upwards.

Then I was through a portal. I was inside the ship. Even when I was floating I pointed my gun. I scanned the room. It was some sort of garage or something like that. Alien crates were stacked to the ceiling, Ghosts littered the floor, and in one corner, a Wraith was resting, deactivated. The rest of our team followed momentarily, and Sonic yelped when he was immediately brought to a stop at the top of the stream. When everyone was there, we fell to the ground feet first. A few of us stumbled, but then we were ready to move on.

That's when our welcome guest arrived.

It was another Grunt, but this one seemed like a heavily armed soldier. It carried a much larger weapon than we had. It glowed radioactive green and was as long as my arm. It jumped in surprise and raised the weapon to fire. I acted.

No hesitation. No holding back. A weapon had been pointed in my face and I was going to defend myself.

I fired three times. Three thunderbolts rang out and struck the Grunt. All three of the armor-piercing bullets ripped through the Alien's armor and splashed the ground with blue blood. The Grunt was thrown to the ground, but it didn't die. Instead, I shuddered, looked at its wounds and started to make a mangled cry in pain. I didn't know what to do. So I raised my rifle again and put one more shot through its head. The crying stopped at once and it just lay lopsided on its back.

Dublov made no response other than, "I hope no-one else heard that."

"What was he carrying?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from cracking.

"That is a fuel rod gun. T-95 looks like. Those things hit like a small bomb. In these close quarters, we would have been radioactive chunks of meat." Dublov clapped me on the shoulder. My knees almost buckled at the force. "Congratulations, Acorn. You just saved every man here."

Saved. That would imply that what I was doing was heroic. What was heroic about being on a backwater rock having to mercy-kill an alien?

The Lieutenant sensed it. "Hey, even though that little guy was an asshole, putting a cap through his head was the nicest thing you could have done for him. Hell, I think he may have even thanked you for it."

I decided not to argue it. "Where to, sir?"

"Hang on." Dublov tapped his headset. "HQ reading us?"

Rouge's voice cam on. "_That I do, Lieutenant. I'm reading you as on-board the CCS-class cruiser. Good work._"

A Marine named Umashi took a knee next to me and scanned the room with his sights. He had flair in his eyes like this was personal for him.

"We lost two men." Dublov said.

There was silence over the line. "_Dammit._" She said. It sounded like she was genuinely upset. Looks like none of us were happy to be dealing with the reaper today.

Miles quickly came into the picture. "_Since Sonic went to go disable the communications, he also succeeded in allowing us to gain access to the alien communications. Lieutenant Ingram has been helping me with translations_."

"_Yes indeed. Mr. Prower has been helping with interpretations_." Ingram responded. "_Most are common ship-board _communiqués _detailing orders, maintenance and whatnot, but then we discovered something I think you may want to know_."

"Let us have it." Dublov said.

"_I've found several references to a symbol that has multiple meanings. Some interpretations coincide to 'open' or 'energy', but in the context that I think it's being used, I believe that this is the stockpile of bombs you may be seeking_."

"And we're on the ship with them." A woman named Bachmann commented.

"Stow it." Dublov shot. "Sir, where are the bombs?"

"_Well, if the radiological scan we did is correct, right above you_."

"Right above…?" I asked looking to the ceiling. Everyone else did as well.

"_Well not _right_ above you. The signal appears to be about three decks above. You'll need to find a lift or some other way to climb levels. Don't worry, the ship isn't going anywhere as long as its moored. However, the Covenant could simply blow it up if they were desperate._"

"I think they're too dumb to think of that." Dublov chuckled.

"_Don't underestimate the stupidity of the Covenant_." Ingram said before closing the channel.

Dublov told us all to take a knee. It was time to do some last-phase planning. I saw right away that this was the last chance we would probably get some peace and quiet. Soon, plasma would be flying.

"Alright Marines. This is it. We're on the cusp of a glorious victory." He was rousing us. He was perking our fighting spirit up. He was going a good job too. "I think I speak for all of us when I say the galaxy will be safer with one less Covenant ship in it!"

"Oohrah!"

"So let's get down to business. Magnusson has a bomb on her thigh that would ruin the day of many an Inny. Today, this weapon of fusion, heat, and light will be repurposed to fry a bunch of Covenant. We have two primary objectives today: Number 1 - We need to find that bomb stockpile. This is critical to our mission here. We cannot under any circumstances allow those bombs to leave this system, let alone this planet. Keep your Geiger counters on. When they start going nuts, let us know right away. Magnusson will arm the bomb and fit it in among the stockpile."

Umashi put his hand up.

"Yeah."

"Command doesn't want the nukes?" he asked seriously.

"Command has decided that the nukes themselves are too much trouble to try and extract. We simply don't have the time, effort, or means to do so. So this ship's going up. If we can't get those nukes, nobody can."

He waited for another question. None came. So, Dublov continued.

"Next, we have to locate and interrogate the shipmaster of this vessel. He's likely to be on the bridge, but as of right now, we are not aware of what race he is. When we locate the shipmaster, we are to interrogate him through any means necessary."

"What if the shipmaster's a Brute?"

Dublov considered, "We hit him twice as hard."

Some of the Marines started to snicker, but Dublov shut them up. "Quiet! I'm serious! Simply interrogating the shipmaster won't be enough. We have to physically break him. When you see him, pop him in the knees and get him down to our level. Get him to bleed a little bit."

It sounded like a very brutal interrogation method, but then I stopped to think about the size of these creatures, Dublov was entirely justified in his method. Think about it, would a Brute show the same mercy?

Listen to me… I'm justifying torture.

I put my hand up.

"Yeah." Dublov said pointing to me.

"If we fight our way to the bombs, we're going to put the shipmaster on high alert. He'll have his men ready for us."

Dublov nodded. "You're absolutely right, Acorn. We're going to be fighting through an army of Covenant any way you look at it though. We go for the shipmaster and ALL of the ship becomes locked down. We may not be able to get to where we want to go."

"_You still have a link to us_." Rouge announced. "_Ingram can help translate anything you find and Tails can crack the locks._"

Dublov smirked. "Maybe this won't be as hard as last time after all. Any last questions?" He waited, but heard nothing. "Alright boys and girls! Watch each other's backs and you'll all be alright."

I didn't hear it right away, but I see now that the Lieutenant jinxed the whole thing.

Dublov procured a map of the class of cruiser we were on. The Covenant's designs were standardized, which meant that if you saw one ship, you've seen them all. He explained to us that he was able to identify most of the rooms that we would enter. The bridge was in the center of the ship, slightly fore of our position. There was a lift up the hallway. The downside was that our motion sensors were going nuts already.

Bachmann swayed.

"What's the matter?" Dublov demanded.

Bachmann dropped her gun. "I… I…" She patted her chest and her hand came away with blood. "I got nicked, sir." She fell flat on her face and a pool started to form around her prone body. She was dead. Oh god.

"Aw shit!" Bonner cried. "Shit!"

"Calm down!" Dublov said. "There's a cloaked bastard in this room." He raised his gun. "Fan out…"

My heart sped up to an incredible speed. I heard it in my ears and my lips went dry. Sonic was close to me. He wasn't usually the one to get nervous, but he had the very sidearm that he was trying to get rid of up and ready to fire. He was so scared that he was even holding it properly. "Where did he go?" He asked.

"I can't see him." I whispered. I squinted, looking for a blur somewhere. "Where are you…"

Another blip on the squad display winked out. We heard a truncated scream from another side of the room. Private First Class Casper Voltaire had become a victim.

"_I got him, I got him_!" Umashi cried out. He started shooting the area around Voltaire's body. Some blood appeared out of midair. We all turned and fired at once. So many guns were going off at once it caused what sounded like a waterfall of cracks. My rifle hammered against my shoulder and I gritted my teeth. I would avenge Voltaire and Bachmann, even though I had never known them before now. I wanted to _harm_ it. _Kill_ it.

We must have shot until we were all out of ammunition. The invisible assassin dropped to the ground. It was one of those Brutes – the massive fur covered creatures.

"Motherfucker's dead!" Someone called. "Clear!"

But it was no victory to me. Bachmann and Voltaire were still dead and they weren't coming back.

"Fuck!" I shouted. "How did we not see that coming?"

"AC unit." Dublov said gravely. "Hang on." Anton came to Bachmann's body and turned her over. I looked away. Her eyes were still open and they were looking into space. A single chest wound was where she was stabbed in the heart by the Brute's blade. Dublov closed her eyes and ripped her dog tags from her neck. Anton looked at the tags and shook his head. "Dammit Bachmann."

He did the same thing to Voltaire. He stuffed both their tags in one of his shirt pockets.

"Why do you do that?" I asked. "Why keep the tags?"

"Do Mobians understand respect for the dead? I want their families to have the tags so they have something to remember them by."

Their families….

"That firefight may have attracted more attention than we would have liked. I'm putting a waypoint on one of the halls! Get there, Marines!"

A Navpoint appeared on my HUD. I moved there with the survivors.

"Stack up!" Dublov ordered. The Humans gathered on the door, waiting. "On three." He said. "One. Two."

Sonic gripped his pistol so tightly I it would break apart in his hand.

"Three."

The alien door slid open. Four grunts were taking cover in the hallway. Bonner shouted "GRENADE OUT!" He plucked the device from his belt, primed it, and threw it into the hallway. The Grunts took cover, but the explosive detonated, spraying the hallway with shrapnel. Two Unggoy were ripped to shreds, and the others were severely wounded by the blast, losing limbs from the explosion.

The Marines cleared out the rest of the hallway and put mercy shots into the wounded aliens' heads. I hung back in the hallway. Sonic shut his eyes tightly and stayed close to me, ears twitching in the gunfire. "I just want to go home…!"

"I want to go home too." I told him. "But I can't. Not when we're this close." I slapped the bolt catch on my MA-5, feeding in a new mag. Taking a few deep breaths, I filed into the hallway and began to work my way forwards.

I remembered Sergeant Jones' insistence on using short controlled bursts when firing an assault rifle. I squeezed off three bullets at a time, pressing my cheek up against the rest. Aliens fell as we carved our way forward. I lost count of how many Covenant I killed. Grunts ran from me, but I put them down as they ran. I know I've said it a lot, but it was horrible. Out of the smoke, another Brute charged at Magnusson. She had the bomb, and I would be damned before we lost her. "MAGNUSSON! DOWN NOW!"

She looked at me, and heeded me. She hit the deck and I fired twenty rounds into the Brute. The burly alien gripped at its chest. It looked at me with red eyes and barred its teeth. I realized that I had pissed it off.

Then it roared. Then it ran.

I swore loudly as I fired the last of my rounds at it, but it was as if its fur was _absorbing_ my shots. Then I was out of ammunition. By the time I dropped my magazine to get a new one, it was fifteen feet from me. I cried out, but a shot rang out. The Brute's head snapped back and the wall next to it was painted magenta. It slumped to the ground dead. I looked to see who fired the gun, and saw Sonic standing with a smoking pistol. His ears were folded back and he gritted his teeth in absolute anger.

"I don't care if I had to do it. Dude's not laying a hand on you."

It was the first time I think Sonic had to fire on a living being. All things considered, that was an excellent shot.

Dublov was up ahead carving the swath, laughing at the aliens in Russian. He was firing his rifle from the hip not caring about spread. Aliens fell in swarms. One of them got a shot off. A burning green ball of plasma lashed out and struck Dublov on the shoulder pad. The laughing ceased immediately. The Lieutenant pulled himself into one of the alcoves in the wall. He showed no pain in his face. With his free hand, he ripped off the melting shoulder pad. Dublov loaded his rifle and then stepped back out, gun blazing.

"_YOU THINK YOU COULD TAKE ME DOWN JUST LIKE THAT_?!"

It was violently beautiful to see this Russian golem charge forward as if he were a Spartan.

Bonner came to protect me. I in turn was looking out for Magnusson.

Another plasma shot rang out. This time, it got lucky. A Corporal named Al-Assad took the blast straight in the chest. He cried out in surprise, but passed out, soon dying. Another name was highlighted in red on the Squad Roster.

I wanted to make it stop.

I don't remember everything. We reached the lift somehow. But we were short another two men. Albertson and Agathema were laying somewhere down the hall among the aliens. Dublov was no worse for wear. We took a silent climb up to the same level of the radioactivity. We came to one more door that had a different symbol that Ingram told us meant 'Primary Ordinance Storage'

"Everyone alright?"

"Better than most." Sonic grumbled. Some of the Marines also growled in agreement.

"You're all doing amazing, you badasses. Don't screw it up though; stay focused. This is the door to the main munitions storage. We're probably going to run into something big. So strafe and hit your short controlled bursts."

We nodded in agreement.

"Prower."

"_Lieutenant_?"

"We're ready. Open the door."

Miles must have been hard at work analyzing the translated code. "_Got it. It's open_."

The alien symbols started to shine, and the doors parted.

I saw that Hunter far too late. A ball of superheated radioactive gel was launched from its arm cannon and passed only a few inches away from my head. I was burned right away from the heat and radiation. My hair was scorched and my fur was burning. I remember being in pain for a while, but someone took care of it. I was lucky. Very lucky.

"HUNTER! FAN OUT!" Dublov called. The Marines filed into the large chamber firing their weapons at the Hunter, supposedly keeping it pinned.

A woman – Katelyn Gauss, was putting some sort of medicine on me. I was back into the hallway. I was in pain. I couldn't see well. I wanted to go home and I made sure everyone knew it. Dublov's men were crying in pain as a battle that I couldn't see raged on.

"_FLANK IT! FLANK IT! STAY OUT OF ITS CONE OF FIRE!_"

"_OH CRAP! IT'S CHARGING! IT'S CHARGING!_"

I closed my eyes tight and gingerly raised my hand to touch the burns. It scorched at my touch. Gauss told me that I should stay still as she finished putting salve on.

I wanted to help Dublov. I told Sonic to go help, but he said no. He wanted to stay with me. We both knew he was afraid to get killed though.

I was out there for less than ten minutes. Dublov's team kept fighting in that time. Soon, the shooting stopped. There was silence for a brief second.

"_Clear._" Someone said over the radio.

"_Yeah. FUCKIN' clear_."

"_That was bad._" I heard Dublov growl. "Chert voz'mi_ we could have done better_. _Who's left_?"

I cursed that I couldn't mute my radio. "_We lost Djankoza and Hertzman off the bat. Hooper and Menendez are dead._" A Marine sadly said.

"_Caspian's getting a closed coffin._" Another said gravely. "_Poor bastard ate a fuel rod_."

I thought that was the worst of it. Then one more came. "_Sir. We lost Bonner_."

I let my head hit the wall behind me and I wiped my eyes as more tears began to fall. Bonner was dead. 19 years old and he was dead. I couldn't save him either. I wanted to kill every single Covenant son of a bitch that I ran across.

You know what? That was exactly what I decided to do.

With some bandages applied to my ear and face, I stood up. I held the pain down by brute force and walked into the room. I saw a lot of bodies and plenty of red, blue and magenta on the ground with new colors – splotches of orange were spread around. I didn't look at the Human dead, though I saw Bonner's body tucked in the corner of the room a bit too late. His eyes were pressed shut and his face was contorted in pain. His bandana had the words BMF on them – Bad Motherfucker I assume.

I wish he went out like one.

Dublov saw me coming and gestured to my bandages. "I see he clipped you too."

"Barely." I said the darkest tone I could manage. "How many?"

"Five." Dublov said after some frustration. "Brings the total to about nine. There's just over 20 of us left."

"Lieutenant, did you grab Bonner's tags yet?"

"No."

"I'll get them." Bonner didn't deserve this, though I wanted to honor the man. I knelt down beside him and looked at his face. I then tried to make him seem… more comfortable. I took off his bandana and placed it over his face. I took his arms and placed them on his chest, clasped. Finally, I grabbed the dogtags on his neck and gave them a pull. They came off with no resistance. Getting up, I looked one more time at Bonner, who was by all other means peaceful.

"Rest easy, you badass." I whispered. Turning, I gave the tags to Dublov, who had a good pile going. "Can we move on?"

"Yeah. With pleasure." The Lieutenant said. "You see these guys?" He pointed to the corpses of the Hunters. "These things are nearly unstoppable."

I looked at the dead alien. It was well over ten feet tall and covered in blue sheen armor. I then noticed that its blood was wriggling with the worm things.

"Yeah. FUCK these guys." Anton said. "I'm glad most of them are on our side."

Umashi came from further within the room. "Lieutenant Dublov. We found them."

The nukes were stacked perfectly beside plasma cores and batteries. They were crates that were numbered just like the ones Magnusson… Bonner… and I found back in the warehouse.

"How many?"

"Looks like… I dunno, at least twenty crates here?"

I looked to Dublov. "That's a hundred nukes."

Magnusson walked up to us. "Each with a blast radius of five blocks."

"That's enough to do some damage." Dublov said. "Air detonate them and their power magnifies. Magnusson. Place your bomb with them and arm it."

"Aye aye."

Dublov tapped his COM set. "Command, we're here and we've found the nukes."

"_You've armed your nuke_?" Rouge asked.

"Yes. We have. We need to have this device we just planted linked with the ones down on the surface. When it goes off, I want the others to as well. There's a chance that the cruiser's shields may contain the explosion."

"_I'll get our people on it. Your first objective is complete Lieutenant. Move to the bridge and either capture the shipmaster or find records of their dealings with Doctor Robotnik_."

"We're on it ma'am. Dublov out." The lieutenant turned to look at his men. "We've taken some losses, that's true. We're also on the verge of saving thousands of more lives. I know it's not a good justification, but we have to press forward or else these Marines died for nothing." He glanced at the bodies. "I wish that there was a way we could bring all these boys home, but we can't. We need to move on. I just want you to know though, that there's no way that we're leaving these nukes for the Covies."

Mangnusson said, "What do you suggest, sir? A dead man's switch?"

A bad feeling began to form in the pit of my stomach.

"That's one way to do it. Unfortunately we can't risk putting the switch with anybody's BIOSIGNS. In the event of mission failure, we can allow ONI to detonate the devices remotely."

"Is that regardless of whether we succeed or fail?" I asked.

Anton was silent again. It was clear that he was aware that he could be sacrificed quickly and painlessly. Death was still death though.

"Yes. Regardless. If we are captured, a remote detonation would be the best solution." He stifled a laugh, but barely. "And knowing Naval Intelligence, their fingers are already hovering over the button."

Everyone gave a nervous laugh. Myself and Sonic however remained serious. We were aware that our lives were now in the hands of a jewel thief.

"Shipmaster's probably on the bridge now fortifying his position. He'll have his elite units guarding him. I don't know about you guys…" Dublov racked the handle on his rifle, "…but I feel ready to go meet his acquaintance, Human-style!"

The platoon roared in approval.

"For those we lost, and for those we'll save! I don't feel like being atomized today!"

The Humans cheered louder, pumping their fists into the air. They were ready to go into hell. They were ready to fight.

"Let's move!" Dublov said. "Mackleroy! Krick! Ishi! You three got point! Dobson! Baasim! You two are the rear guard! Everyone else moves in between. Keep your eyes open for bugs everyone! And dare I say it, stay frosty."

I don't think I need to elaborate what we had to go through to get to the bridge of the Covenant ship. As I said before, Covenant bridge was located deeper within the ship, and we had to carve our way in. You read how our adventures getting here went. Well, the waltz to the bridge was hardly any cleaner. 21 of us dwindled down to twelve. We lost Mackleroy, Krick and Ishi not ten minutes into our push. They died of plasma wounds. Quick, but painful. I must have blown a thousand rounds out of that gun trying to avenge their deaths. Another seven minutes later, three more died, including Umashi. He took needler rounds into his side. He knew he was going to die, and he pulled a grenade out. He bellowed something in Japanese and ran towards the Covenant. Umashi killed ten enemy aliens at the cost of his own life.

It was nowhere near worth it though.

Gauss was thankfully still alive, and Magnusson barely had a scratch on her. Dobson and Baasim still held the rear, even though they were freaked out by their dwindling numbers. Dublov's other shoulder pad was blown away by plasma, so he abandoned it. Now neither of his shoulders had protection. If he got hit there again, he would probably suffer fatal injuries.

I was alive, but I wasn't doing well at all. My face was drained of all color, and my bandages were stinging still touching my skin. I was never shot during the whole thing. I had patches of fur missing on the side of my head though. According to Sonic, I have real pale skin. No kidding. I sure do.

The bridge door likewise had different symbols on it. Ingram said that the symbol basically translated to 'Command Center' so we were pretty sure that we were in the right place. We stacked up one more time.

"Ready?" Dublov asked me.

"As I'll ever be." I told him.

"No second chances." He reminded me. "We fuck up here, and our asses are blown to Kingdom Come. We enter this door, and we have to give it our all."

"What are you saying?" I shot. "That I'm not doing all I can?"

"Acorn. Shut up and calm down. You're a badass – there's no question about it. But I can see it in your eyes. Let them go."

I wanted to. I wanted to so bad. How many more were going to die because of Robotnik's actions? How long until I was about to join them?

No. Dublov was right. I had to let it go. I chose this, and I was going to demolish every single alien I could to get to the Doctor. I took a deep breath, gripped my rifle tighter, and nodded.

"I'm ready."

Dublov nodded. "Prepare to breach." He braced against the wall. "Stack up, everyone! Bang and Clear! Do it, Holtz!"

A grey-eyed Marine no less than 20 years old nodded. He tapped the door command and let it open up. "Banging it!" he called throwing a flashbang in there. Dublov threw his own in there with more power. Twin thundercracks sounded out and we ran in, shooting at everything we saw. The carnage was indescribable. Within seven seconds, most of the Bridge crew was dead.

"Yo, one's running!" someone called. An Unggoy was panicking. He ran back towards the nearest door still squeezing off bolts from his plasma pistol. Before I could raise my gun, Sonic raised his pistol and pulled the trigger. One shot to the Grunt's midsection made the alien crumble with a wheeze.

"That one almost hit you." He explained.

I realized that it was incredibly hard for him to do what he did. "Thank you." I managed to say.

Sonic wordlessly returned my thanks with a nod. He dropped the mag from his pistol and fumbled to replace a new one. "Ah. I think I got the hang of this stuff now."

"No you don't." Dublov said. "This outfit isn't for you." He said that like he understood the person that the Hedgehog was. He was right too.

Baasim was walking up the ramp in the center of the room. He saw something on the upper deck. "Hey Lieutenant! Got someone here you might want to meet!"

Dublov's eyebrows raised and he walked towards Baasim, who was pointing his weapon towards something on the upper platform. I followed him up the ramp and saw the ugliest sentient thing I have ever looked upon in the universe.

It was an alien for sure. It cowered under the instrument panel. It had a long neck, bulging eyes, and wore what looked like a tiara on its head. It looked like royalty, but it sure wasn't acting like it. To my surprise, it spoke English.

"You… you _filth_! How _dare_ you defile this holy tool!"

The Lieutenant stepped closer to the alien. "Pleasure to meet you too, fishbrain. Name's Dublov, UNSC. Who are you?"

The alien stayed huddled. "Begone! I will call the guards!"

"Won't be a long call if my men have their way. Who are you?"

The alien said nothing.

"Well, guess they're going to have their way." Dublov nodded. Baasim and Holtz grabbed the alien and pulled him out against his will. They both wrapped their arms around the alien's. "You're a prophet. Guess you aren't ranked very high."

I saw pictures of the Prophets, or San 'Shyuum before. I knew they were ugly, but DAMN.

Dublov's boast was enough to ruffle the Prophet's feathers. "I am the Minister of Abjection! I am the shipmaster of this vessel."

"Now that surprises me. I thought the Shipmaster would be a Brute."

"Humans are pathetically narrow-minded to think that Brutes control our best ships!"

"Your ship looks no different than the last I blew up."

"A failing of your intellect, I'm sure."

Dublov shook his head. "Holtz."

The Marine reached back and socked the Prophet in the stomach. The Alien doubled over and retched.

"_You vile parasites! You vermin_!"

"Keep talking, sweetheart. There's more where that came from." Holtz promised.

"Holtz, stand down."

The Marine heeded Dublov's words and restrained himself.

"I'd like to ask you a few questions if that's alright with you. What am I saying? Of course it's alright with you." He paced around the bridge and casually kicked a dead Grunt off the platform where it landed with a thud below. "So, you probably know how this works; I ask you a question, you give me an answer. Now, what you don't know is if I get an answer I'm not satisfied with, or if you can't quite remember, I will kindly ask my associate Mr. Holtz to… well, do what he does best."

Holtz grinned, but the Prophet remained stoic. "I am protected by the Forerunners! You may hurt my body, but you cannot kill my spirit!"

Dublov half nodded. "Well, let's see what we can't do. First question: we found a series of tactical nuclear devices stowed away in the hold of this ship. Where did you get them?"

I waited for a response, but the Prophet didn't give one.

Dublov was annoyed, but seemed to expect this. "Look, since this is the first question, I'm going to be a bit merciful and give you a freebie on this one. You won't get another opportunity like this. So, I'm going to ask you again." He brought his face close to the aliens. "Where did you get the bombs?"

The Prophet tightened its lips. "From traitorous Humans like yourself."

"I assure you that this guy is no friend of ours. Second question: Why did you accept the bombs?"

The prophet was only happy to answer that one. "We aren't dumb, unlike yourselves, Human. We know that our ships cannot go anywhere without being shot at! The bombs are for agents, not soldiers. Your kind would call it _misdirection_."

"Well, you're a smart worm, aren't you?" Dublov. "Third question: What did you give the Human in return?"

The Prophet's eye twitched. I saw it, but it was subtle. "Nothing." The alien breathed. "We gave him nothing."

"He's lying." I said at once. The San 'Shyuum turned to me and gave me a scowl.

"Funny. I was thinking the same thing." Dublov accorded. "Holtz."

The Marine's fist moved like a blur into the alien's stomach. The Prophet doubled over and his tiara fell off, clanging on the alien metal.

"I didn't like that answer." Dublov had said. "So I'm going to ask again: what did you give him in return?"

The alien's speech was slurred, but he was still understandable. He grumbled something in his own language. "Technology. Our technology. The fool probably doesn't even know how to use it."

"Well, neither do you." Someone pointed out.

"The glory of the Forerunners allow us to use their great machines. This Human is not anointed!"

I said, "He'll find his own way. Not the first time he gutted someone else's tech."

Dublov seemed satisfied, but said, "Where is he?"

"What?" The San 'Shyuum asked.

"Where is Julian Kintobor?" the Russian Marine demanded.

The prophet seemed stunned. "I… I don't know."

"Wrong answer. Holtz, across the mug."

The Marine punched hard at the Prophet's face. A trickle of blood flowed from his nose.

"That jog your memory?" Dublov asked.

"I don't know! We never traded personally!"

"Then who did?" I demanded. "Where did you get the bombs?!"

The Prophet couldn't find an answer at first. Holtz was winding up for another punch, but the Prophet said, "Oh! Wait! Wait! Wait… I… I have it in the computer! The Associated Intelligence can tell us!"

"Associated Intelligence?" I asked.

"Ironically enough, AIs." Dublov said. "Alright, go look for it, but you'd better not do anything that calls any guards or blows up the ship. I'll make sure you die before either happens."

The Prophet nodded, scowled, but tapped some computer buttons. A holographic manifest of some sort popped up. The ugly alien scrolled through the information. I couldn't make out any of the language that was being used, but it was clear that Ingram could understand it. I could hear him whispering meaning into Dublov's ear over the COM. "There. That one." He finally said.

The Prophet growled something but tapped the controls. Lines of Covenant script appeared.

Ingram chimed in over our SQUADCOM. "_Alright everyone, I want you listening now. It seems that this file contains coordinates and hotwords that referring to 'tactical cleansing devices'. I assume that refers to the nukes. It doesn't refer to Kintobor by name, but I think I can confirm with Agent Rouge that the 'Obese Scientist' may be the man we're looking for?_"

"_I'd certainly say so_."

"_We'll go through this information, Lieutenant. Just make sure your camera records the whole thing._"

While Dublov was just looking at the file, and while Holtz still had a good hold on the Minister of Abjection, Sonic saw something that caught his eye. I didn't see him, but I heard him.

"Hey, what do these red dots mean?"

"Excuse me?" Dublov said suddenly. He walked away from the screen towards Sonic, who pointed to a part of the screen.

Dublov saw what it was right away and returned to the Prophet. "What did you do?!"

"What happened?" I asked, nervous.

"This piece of garbage just told all of his troops to come back to the ship! They're sending everything they have back to this spot!"

One of the Marines said, "Just shoot him sir! Bastard put us through hell!"

I was ready to agree with him. I wanted to shoot him myself. Dublov however said, "I'm not going to shoot him. He knows next to nothing. Besides, I don't need to shoot him." He punched so hard that the Prophet wheeled around and fell on his face. "Command, this is Dublov. We have a large number of hostiles heading this way. We are leaving this ship and are going to detonate the bombs."

I swallowed. Well, this was it.

"_Acknowledged._" Rouge said. "_We'll give you some time to get off the ship. How does 20 minutes sound?_

"That should work. Can we get a bird to one of the shuttle bays?"

"_Yes, but it won't stay forever! You effectively have fifteen minutes! Move now, Dublov! Above all else, get the Princess and Sonic out of here. They are critical to finding Robotnik!_"

"If it comes to that, I'll make sure they get out." Dublov nodded. "Move Marines! We have 20 minutes! Anybody lags, we can't come back to save you."

::END ENTRY::


	92. Entry 92: March 5th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: March 5th, 3235<br>Entry Made 0014 (12:04 AM)

Dear Journal,

See, I don't even remember much of what happened after we set the bombs. I remember standing in the command center with pretty much all of the Covenant bridge crew taken care of, the Minister of Abjection lying unconscious on the ground, and tens of thousands of angry aliens looking to drink our blood. I may not be conveying that message properly, but I was utterly terrified. For me to say that, I wouldn't have to be kidding around. There was no way that I was going to die on an alien spaceship thousands of lightyears and a whole universe away from home. There wouldn't even be a body to bring back, just a whisper of the stellar winds.

I have to finish the story though to get it all off my chest. Then maybe I'll feel better.

Dublov and our group of survivors had to vacate the ship. We primed those nukes to blow and we only had twenty minutes to find a way off. The best way we could think of would be a dropship. We would have to make our way to one of the shuttle bays and find out how to call in an extraction ship. If I were on one of Robotnik's ships, this sort of thing wouldn't be difficult to convey. I would be able to navigate the floor plans without even thinking about it. It would be simple. Covenant ships aren't my area of expertise at all. I had to trust Dublov with it all. He knew his way around these sort of ships. He was… he said that he did something like this before. I guess I thought that made him invincible.

They were waiting for us. We should have seen it coming. It was stupid. We just stormed their bridge. How many security stations were alerted to us? How many of them would be gathering the halls? Hundreds. Maybe a thousand. We ran out of the bridge down the hall with our weapons blazing. Dublov was screaming orders to all of us to follow us.

"Short controlled bursts!" He cried. "No more Marines are dying here today!"

Of course, it was a flat out lie. No less than ten seconds later, Ishi danced as dozens of plasma bolts burned through his armor and burned him to death. It happened so quick that he didn't even scream. He just fell on his face and just… died.

Baasim went too. Lost his leg and managed to cry out before taking a shot to the head. Someone threw a grenade. I think it was me. It sailed into the corridor where a bunch of those shielded Jackals were standing. They tried to jump out of the way but the device went off, blowing them to ribbons. I remember running out of ammunition. I dropped my gun and grabbed another assault rifle. It was Holtz. He lay in a heap with eyes glaring into the wall. His blood was all over the weapon. I didn't want to pick it up, but a round whizzing past my eye made me think otherwise. I was blinded. I couldn't see. I fired at what I thought was alien. I later learned I hadn't hit a single Marine, which gave me something I could approximate to relief. Something knocked me over. I glanced up at what did it and I saw one of the Brutes. It laughed evilly and put its foot on my chest. It wanted to crush me to death.

It put pressure. I couldn't breathe. My own armor was cutting into my body and I gasped for air. I heard a crack and desperately prayed that it was my armor. I tried to raise my gun but it knocked my… Holtz's rifle away. It laughed. I cried.

Then it reared up and toppled backwards like a tree. It gave a long animal cry before it was silenced by a single gunshot. My savior stood over me. Magnusson.

She saved my life. But there was a toll to be paid.

"Get up!" She said. "You're not dying here! Not on this planet!"

I barely heard her over the screams.

"You alright? Breathe, Acorn!" She shouted, snapping her fingers to get my attention. Thankfully, I could see them clearly.

I counted my breaths carefully and concluded my ribs had not caved in. I grabbed her hand, gasping in sharp pain. "Thank you!" I managed to get out.

She patted my shoulder. "Come on. Shuttle bay isn't too far from here!" She wheeled around, but an alien shot rang out. Magnusson stumbled.

"Oh fuck…!" She whispered. "Oh fuck…!"

I saw her. Buried deep in her chest was a long crystal or a needle almost as long as my forearm.

My heart was torn. I knew right away that there was nothing that could be done. She looked at me with tears in her eyes. There was no pain for her. None that mattered for her anyway.

There she collapsed, and I started screaming. I pulled her out of that hell and brought her to an alcove that was inhabited by dying men both Human and alien.

I tried to grab the needle from her chest, but it was serrated in some way. When I tried to pull it out, it cut my hands. My own blood came from my hands and stained my fur and my own tears. Magnusson looked at me. Her mouth was moving, but no sounds came.

Was she speaking to God?

"Don't leave us!" I cried. "Don't go, Magnusson! Don't you dare go!"

She then said one last thing to me in a voice that seemed like it came from hundreds of miles away:

"Not here… not on this planet… not…"

The look I saw in her eyes was one of absolute fear. But when we locked eyes, she left. She died. All that was left was a shell that stared into my very soul. For the briefest immeasurable period, I thought of what lay beyond death. Maybe there was simple oblivion. Maybe that was for the best.

I didn't even notice that I held her tags in my hand. They were covered with my blood. Or was it hers?

I felt another hand on my shoulder. It was powerful, but thankfully, it was a Human. Dublov yanked me back to my feet. The spell was broken and I was aware again. I heard gunfire, plasma shots, explosions, and cries of pain. Next thing I knew, I drew that plasma pistol I picked up earlier. They were willing to spill our blood. That's OK. Now I was more than willing to spill some of theirs.

I wonder what I have become.

The plasma pistol seemed a bit large in my hands. I found what I thought was the trigger and pulled it. A blob of green energy pulsed from the gun and hit its target – a Grunt that was firing on some Humans. The blob splashed across its chest and burned the creature's flesh. The Marines retaliated and put the alien down with a flurry of bullets.

Then I found out the plasma pistol had a charged effect where the power magnified. I held down the trigger and watched the plasma grow. The gun started to rumble and I searched for a target. A Brute charged me screaming with a sword. I pointed the gun at its chest and pulled the trigger. The plasma flew crackling with energy and impacted on the Brute and killed it nearly instantly. Its fur was on fire and its torso was charred.

The fight ended as the Covenant retreated. We were left in a hallway soaked with alien blood and covered with bodies. I ran all over shouting for Sonic looking for him. I prayed to God that he wasn't one of the bodies. I hoped I would never find a hint of blue among the green. But then he called my name. My heart skipped a beat as I saw him. The medic, Katelyn, was wrapping a dressing around his arm trying hard to keep an even mood about him. Though I saw that he was just as frightened, despite the smirk he gave.

We were all frightened.

Ten minutes. Miles contacted us over the radio and frantically warned us about the timer. Ten minutes until we were all atoms. No pressure, right?

The base chimed in. "_We have a stealth Pelican in orbit around the cruiser. They're waiting for your signal but they can't engage Covenant forces. Your final objective is to lower the shields on one of the shuttle bays. Do that, and you can get out of there. Hurry!_"

Rouge's voice almost seemed strained. Gosh, it was almost if she'd be upset if we were atomized.

"_Ontario to Infiltration team!_" Captain Ekdal cut in. "_Scans are showing multiple CCS-class cruisers heading to your location! Three ships are dropping out of orbit now!_"

"_Charlie 22 here_." The Pelican pilot said over our COMs. "_I have visual on reentry of the CCSs. I can confirm three vessels of moderate tonnage making best speed towards your location_."

Ekdal continued. "_They haven't spotted us yet, but we're not going to take chances. We'll make one more orbit and then we'll have to burn for the moons. Highness, you _will _extract yourself from that ship!_"

It was the first time I heard Ekdal issue me a direct order, and with all traces of humor lost from his voice.

"_We'll keep monitoring your status and coordinate with… with…_" he cursed in Norwegian "_Are those scans right? Try them one more time! We'll get back to you_." The radio snapped off. Ekdal was off to do his job.

"What do you think they found?" Mackleroy whispered.

"Your ass after I kicked it into space for lagging!" Dublov roared! Five minutes! No man left behind!"

We made it to the shuttle bay in about a minute at a full tilt sprint. We ploughed through the opposition. Brass and plasma went flying as we ran to the bay. Krick went down fighting. One of the Brutes raised some sort of rifle or something and fired giant spikes. Three pinned his arm to the purple walls. Even though in immense pain, Krick drew his sidearm and fired until it was empty, taking down four Jackals. Plasma rifle fire came from one of the shuttle bay's support pillars Krick was fried, still holding his sidearm tightly. We had to leave the body, concentrated on not being killed ourselves.

"We're on the second floor!" Dublov noted. "There's controls here we can use to lower the force field doors!" He hurried to one such control panel. "Lieutenant Ingram! We need help!"

"_Tap the central hologram glyph. It will lower the shields on your side of the bay_!"

Dublov did as instructed. "Give me some covering fire, Marines!"

I even saw Sonic get in on the action, taking time to grip his M8 properly and cover the Lieutenant. He fired until the magazine was dry and the slide shot back. He even bellowed out, "Swapping!" with such force that surprised me. I didn't know Sonic's voice could get that high.

"Some of the locals were growing bolder. Grunts were using each other as sacrificial shields so that they could push forward. I spared none of them, teeth gritted so hard I thought they would shatter with force. That was for Magnusson.

Then what happened next shocked me. A Grunt ran out of cover and screamed to the stars. It yanked two plasma grenades from its belt. I thought it was going to throw them at us, but the squat aliens had other plans. It raised its arms, grenades burning brightly and ran at us.

"KAMEKAZI!" Gauss screamed. We shot at it with dozens of rounds. It stumbled but kept coming. Then we got lucky and put it down. The grenades detonated in a blue nova. Three of its comrades were caught in the blast and their grenades also blew up, creating a chain reaction of plasma explosions.

The Covenant were willing to use suicide troops? Why? Why would any army do something like that? When would anybody _want_ to do that?

With the shields down, Dublov tossed a bright flare onto the shuttle bay floor one level below us.

"_I see you!_" Charlie 22 responded. "Thrusters at full! Hang tight boys and girls, your savior has arrived!"

The black outline of the dropship barreled into the shuttle bay. The pilot fired his engines to brake. His chin gun flared, spraying the deck with fire. Covenant dropped like flies at the hum of the cannon. Satisfied that he did his job, Charlie 22 spun like a ballerina in the air and lowered the troop hatch. The crew chief, a muscular woman mounting a machine gun urged us forward.

"Cutting it close, ladies! Come on! One minute until we need to leave!"

It was twenty meters to the dropship. I could make that. We could all make that. That was the only thing on my mind until We saw crates flying in the distance.

"You have got to be kidding…" someone whispered.

"CHIEFTAIN! THEY HAVE A GOD DAMNED CHIEFTAIN!"

A blue ball of energy and what even felt like gravity itself blasted the air. Alien crates went flying and the largest Brute I ever saw stood and roared at us. In its hand, it held a five foot long hammer. This wasn't an ordinary hammer though. Its head was covered in spikes, lights, and even small engines. It roared something in its own language and started running. Even before that, we had begun shooting it, but our rounds hit a shield. It would not go through.

I think I about pissed myself in sheer horror. Not afraid to say it. Not after the week I went through.

It picked out one of us, Dobson, as the weakest and made a beeline for him. Dobson cried out in fear as he knew what would happen. The Chieftain's hammer came swift and lifted the Marine off his feet. Dobson flew through the air and hit one of the support walls, killed instantly.

Dublov ordered us to leave, to get on the shuttle. Sonic ran aboard, helped by the crew chief. He shouted at me to run. I said no. I had to help the Lieutenant.

"Get on!" The chief called. "Now! You stay, we all die!"

In a motion so quick that I barely noticed it, Dublov stuffed something in one of my pouches and shoved me backwards so hard I almost fell. "TAKE HER!" he screamed. "TAKE HER NOW!"

I felt hands grab at me. They were lifting me onto the dropship. I tried to resist. I tried to leave to help Anton. They wouldn't let me go. Dublov looked at me with sad eyes, but turned to face the Chieftain, who laughed at our escape. Dublov tossed away his gun and made eye contact with the creature. "THIS IS THE WAY IT ENDS, HUH? COME ON!" He pulled out two knives from their sheaths.

"Hang on!" the pilot called. The Pelican blasted away at incredible speed. The Covenant vessel dwindled in size. The last thing I saw of Anton Dublov was him running towards the Brute Chieftain, both knives drawn. I like to think he stood a chance.

The second things I saw were the three Covenant ships coming closer to investigate. Alien dropships crossed between them to board their friendly ship. I turned my head and saw Miles coming from the cockpit. He must have been riding up front. I grabbed the little guy in a tight hug.

"I thought you wouldn't make it." He said. "I was scared."

"You don't know the half of it, buddy." I assured him.

"_CONFIRMED, CONFIRMED! CSO HAS BEEN SPOTTED IN ORBIT! I REPEAT! COVENANT SUPERCARRIER HAS BEEN SPOTTED!_"

"What happened?!" I screamed running to the cockpit. I grabbed handholds to fight the acceleration. The pilot wore full gear but his copilot seat was empty. I strapped in and looked ahead.

"_Alright, this is bad._" Rouge announced. "_You have a Covenant Supercarrier pulling into orbit. They may not have spotted you yet, _Ontario."

"_The ship is on full alert. Is Acorn off the planet_?" Ekdal asked.

"I'm here, Captain."

"_You need to be free of the blast radius! No telling how far it will go when those other ships are caught in the blast!_"

"I understand sir!" I turned to the pilot. "This bird have any special tricks up her sleeve?"

"I can coax a bit more out of her." The pilot said, eyebrows raising.

"Punch it!"

He hit the intercom. "All hands brace for kick-ass torque!"

He blasted the afterburners, and my teeth shot down my throat.

"_Hey princess, see you on the flip side._" Rouge said.

"You're not coming?" I asked her.

"_Nah. Reports and whatnot. We'll be fine. We have some nice fireworks coming. If I'm ever back home again, I'll look you up_?"

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't."

"_Tell the Human I say hi. Ask if he's single!_"

Without warning, Charlie 22 spun around, free of the surface. Tears of Piety stood with the sun's outline behind it, giving the planet a Halo. It was more pretty than it deserved.

"Third of March in 3… 2… 1… Let there be light!"

And light there was. A sun appeared on the surface of Tears of Piety. It outshone the sun for the briefest of moments. Clouds were swept away, land turned red near the blast, and a shockwave coursed through the valley. The single star was actually three. The other two cruisers had been detonated themselves by the first cruiser and produced an explosion three times as powerful. The entire encampment had to have been vaporized.

I felt sadness though as I watched the lights wink out. Tears of Piety was dark once more and was a foreboding place. Though I saw that embers of the nuclear explosion remained and made the world even more inhospitable.

I thought of our dead. I thought of the men that had been cut down by the Covenant. Though my thoughts went to Magnusson, who had died in exchange for my life. I thought about her eyes and I wondered what she had said when no sound came from her mouth. Who was she talking to? Her final words haunted me.

"Not here…" she whispered. "Not here…"

And I saw Dublov again. I wondered if he had won that fight. I almost wished he hadn't. Knowing that you are about to die might make you a bit more depressed than getting surprised by it. No, he probably didn't win that fight anyway. In any case, Anton Dublov went out like a badass.

That reminded me. I reached into my pocket where Dublov had placed something before he shoved me away. I grabbed them and held them before my eyes. I nearly cried, but held it in. In my hands were the dog tags of every single Marine that had died on the mission, at least the ones we could get.

Baasim, Mackleroy, Umashi, Ishi, Holtz, Bonner, Bachmann, Voltaire… they were all here. Every single person I could remember seeing die plus more. 26 name tags in a huge ball. At the top was the last one. "Dublov, A."

"God dammit all." I whispered to the stars.

I saw one more thing. Taped to one of the tags was a fold of paper. I pulled it out and decided to read. I have it right in front of me so I can just write it as it is.

"_To the Lucky Bastard Who's Reading This,_

_ If you have found this note, one of two possibilities has passed: either I'm dead, or as good as dead. Neither of which is remotely appealing to me. Either way, this is the end of the line for me. In our line of work, death is something that we always have to deal with. When it comes, people like us are expected to go into the night with dignity, not fear. I've hopefully went out the way I wanted – a badass. _

_ There's a proverb in Russian that I always laughed at: _

_Если вы идете на войну молиться один раз, если вы продолжаете морем молиться дважды, но более молиться втроеесли Вы собираетесь выйти замуж_

_ This means, 'If you go to war, pray once. If you go by sea, pray twice. But pray three times if you're getting married!_'

_Well, I have prayed three times, friend, and I have one more task from beyond the grave: I want you to find my wife, Alma. I want you to find her. _

_ Tell her she was right all along._

_ -Anton Andreievich Dublov, 24__th__ Infantry Battalion, UNSC Marine Corps. _

_ Semper Fi, Победить или умереть._

I looked at those tags for a while. The Lieutenant's last message hit me deep. He wanted to go out on his own terms and managed to do so. I couldn't read the Russian, but I felt that he had said something meaningful in his last quote.

Alma. That was his wife. She was probably somewhere back on Earth. I don't have the note anymore. I gave it to the Captain himself. I wondered what he would do with it. Would they forget that one simple instruction that Dublov gave them? I hoped not. A promise to a dead man had to be kept. It's something our culture values – deathbed promises.

Miles had come from the troop bay and noticed me wiping my eyes.

"Are you OK?" he asked me, disturbed by my sadness.

"No, I'm not." I told him. "I never want to come here again."

"Amen." The pilot said. He whipped us around. According to the displays, the craft had been drifting on inertia.

"Heads up, _Ontario_ is ahead of us now!" The pilot called.

I saw the ship as a star at first. Then it grew quickly. The HUD showed a projected flight path into one of the _Ontario's _shuttle bays.

"Ontario_ to Charlie 22, step it up! CSO is en-route to us now! We are out of here_!" the flight tower shouted to us. I leaned forward to look out of the cockpit. I saw it. The massive purple blue dot on the horizon grew ever larger.

"29 kilometers of fuck me silly!" the pilot groaned, scared. "Hang on! Deceleration's gonna be a bitch!"

The pelican's engines reversed slowing us down by a huge factor. The ship shuddered as deceleration worked its magic. The shuttle bay door became larger and larger. I could barely see the interior with suited up techs guiding us in. Charlie 22's pilot was a minor miracle-worker and eased us in coasting at well over six hundred miles an hour. We thumped on the deck and slid, but we were safe.

The doors closed, but he held my hand as I stood up.

"No! Everyone back in your seats, and put on a mask! The bay's depressurized. Nobody leaves until we get the go-ahead!"

"What happened?" Sonic asked.

"The air's been pumped out." Tails said adjusting his mask.

"Why?" he asked.

"No decompression!" The pilot explained.

For two and a half hours we sat in that dropship hearing the rumble of battle. I heard rumbles, distant booms through the superstructure of the ship, and frantic radio communications that were picked up by our dropship:

"_Vent every single hullside corridor! Get everyone out of there and form a protective perimeter!_"

"_CSO is launching another wave of frigates! Captain, we can't fight them!_"

"_I agree. Make a hard burn for the moon and use it to slingshot off to a safe vector! Then, we slip out of here_."

"_Captain, that will take us within five thousand meters of the moon's surface_!"

"_Well aware! When we hit that mark, initiate escape burn!_"

"_Aye, sir!_"

I had to ask what was going on. Ekdal said that there was a "minor scuffle" occurring. In some ways, I didn't even want to know what he really meant. Rapid rumbles through the deck told me that the guns were firing, blowing alien ships to smithereens.

"_All hands, brace for sudden acceleration!_" I gripped my seat as inertia pulled at my body. It was hard to even keep my eyes open. I thought the Humans had technology that counteracted this sort of thing. If they did, the Gs we pulled went right through it.

The Pilot on the other hand was no worse for wear. It even looked like he was enjoying it! I couldn't tell, the helmet covered most of his face.

A few more rocks later, I fell back into my seat.

"_We're clear, we're clear! All hands, stand down all alerts, we're out of here, boys and girls_!"

"_Decks Fore and Aft copy all. Standing down alerts, recompressing vented areas._"

"_Shuttle bay acknowledges, standing down alert. Recompressing bay_."

From there, the pilot told us to stand and go. I put away my mask and walked into the bay. I froze.

Besides me, Sonic, and Miles, I only counted three Humans standing to look at me. Three. Gauss, a man named Edmonton, and a girl, Beamont looked at me and understood. They saw the tags in my hand. Edmonton and Gauss just turned away and walked out of the dropship. Beamont just fell onto the seat looking at the floor, silent.

Tails tried to say something to me, but I didn't listen. I couldn't listen. I just looked at the pile of ID tags in my hand wondering just what we learned here. What sort of information did we uncover? Was the mission a success or a failure? It sure felt like a failure to me.

I walked out of that dropship just staring at the tags. We were safe in Slipspace, but that didn't make me feel any more secure.

Did we accomplish anything? What did we recover? Hopefully ONI was able to get something from the data that Dublov found, otherwise 25 men and women died for nothing. What a waste. What a sad and horrible waste of Human life.

I would just have to wait and write a report. There was a ceremony that was held on the third. The Humans call it Armistace Day, the end of the Human-Covenant War in 2553. The day Humans won their right to exist. I didn't see victors. I saw coffins. Empty coffins of the Marines we couldn't bring back, each with a flag of their home country draped over them. I recognized some, all of them from Earth. Some I didn't. Countries like Calmato, Iggkauri, Valeshire, New France. I wondered about these countries. I wondered about their cultures. What languages did they speak? What religions did they follow? What sort of people were they, and were the Marines I found the best their homelands had to offer.

What did it matter anymore? The most these countries would get back was a letter of apology with the 'sincerest condolences' of the UNSC. Goodwill is cheap.

My mind always goes back to the tags. I wonder how long before my H…

Before Christopher ends up as one of those tags? Before he ends up as a coffin?

I hope that never happens. I hope that none of us ever end up there. How many have to die before we can stop Robotnik? How much blood has to be spilt to bring Julian Kintobor to justice?

I… I think I need to talk to Doctor Juliani again. I'm having nightmares again.

I want to go home.

I want to… just go home.

::END ENTRY::


	93. Entry 93: March 10th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: March 10th, 3235<br>Entry Made 1240 (12:40 PM)

Dear Journal,

How do some people live with it? How do some people just deal with this job like nothing has ever happened?

It's been almost ten days since the Tears of Piety mission, and I still feel sick to my stomach seeing that there was nothing I could do to save those people. Debriefing was an incredibly small one. Me, Sonic, and the three surviving Marines sat in our chairs as Captain Ekdal spent time talking about how we did was very important and that he was grateful for it all. I would have sworn that this was pre-rehearsed. Maybe this was something that every captain learned so that they could tell the survivors of the teams they sent to battle.

Then he stopped halfway through and said, "Look, I'm sorry everyone. I can't do this anymore."

From there, he was different. It was a look that I have never seen on Captain Ekdal before – sadness.

"I lost 26 men and women the other day. Twenty six people who are never going home to their families. Twenty six men and women who we had to leave to die. We couldn't even gather their bodies. Screw protocol. I'm mad as hell if I can speak candidly."

It was so strange to see this side of the man that always wore a smile in battle. Ekdal looked like he transformed into another person. I could believe that. I think we all changed into different people down there. I know I did at least. Like I said before, I'm going to set up an appointment with Dr. Juliani when I get back to Mobius.

Ekdal was very somber through the debriefing. Though at the end, he did perk up somewhat. "It wasn't for nothing. That data that you got from the cruiser's database was heavily encrypted, though some of the scientists back at the ONI base are going to try and crack it. They believe that there's something important in that data."

"I hope they're right." I said. "Otherwise those families are going to learn that these people died in an amazing failure."

Sonic looked at me with a concerned expression. He really could see that he couldn't say much that was going to make me feel better. Sorry, Blur. Having a person die right in front of you will have that effect on you.

Miles was there with us as well. He was clueless of course. He was sitting in front of some computer, probably not even listening to the battle. He was just a kid. What was he doing out here? Nobody his age should be in any situation like this. He should be at home, living in comfort and happiness.

We all should be.

Captain Ekdal suspended duties for us. Since we were so few in number returning, he also gave us the offer of seeing the ship's counselor. Essentially a psychologist, kind of like Doctor Juliani.

He was a kind man. His name was Uhlmann. Hector Uhlmann I think his name was. I remember the most was that he had a strong German accent. Though he was very calm through the whole interview with me. Nice as it was to talk to someone else regarding the whole ordeal, none of what he said would make a real difference. I wanted my mom and dad. I wanted to talk to them. I wanted them to tell me that it was all going to be OK, and that I'll always be welcomed home.

Since I chose to stay up, a lot of the crew went back into Cryo. Tails went with them too. I suppose that he really just wanted to sleep the whole thing off. Can't say I blame him. I would join him in my own tube as well, but… I'm not sure I want to. I may dream. You know, they say that when you go into cold-sleep, the last thought you have stays with you. The only thing that's been going through my mind the last couple of days is the battle. I don't think I'd like seeing that in my sleep.

So, now I'm mostly alone and awake with the skeleton crew. The ship feels rather empty now that 95% of the crew became popsicles. There's something surreal about walking down the corridors on your own, just listening to the hum of the engine without anybody getting in your way. I almost feel like I'm one with the ship. It's tough to explain, but there it is.

But then the illusion is broken by some PA announcement that asks for crew members to report to a specific part of the ship.

Over the last 2 days, I've found myself in the observation lounge on the starboard side of the ship. Looking out into Slipspace is definitely not the same as looking out at a regular starfield. Since slipspace is totally absent of its own light sources, there's nothing but pitch black. Sure, there are some lights that illuminate the ship every now and again, but aside from those, there's really nothing out there.

It's such a horrifying concept, but intriguing. Is this what the universe will look like when the stars go out? Maybe in Slipspace, this already happened.

I didn't dwell on it for too long. About four hours after I arrived, I left the observation lounge and headed back for my cabin. I counted some of the bunk doors on the way back. They had the deck number and the hall number on them as well. I was on Deck 4. 4-31, 4-33… 4-35. The names.

I was looking at the late Lieutenant Anton Dublov's door.

For a second I was still, but then for some reason, I started to cry. I braced myself against the wall and let the tears run. I wasn't thinking of Dublov, but of his wife. Alma. What were they going to tell her? How would she react? What was she right about?

The universe wasn't going to throw me a bone on that one, so I slowly stopped crying before someone saw me. I had to present the image of a strong NCO such as myself.

I got back to my bunk room a little after 9 AM. That's when I realized that I had been out all night just sitting around and contemplating just what my life was about. There have been worse ways to pull and all-nighter. That wasn't to say that I wasn't shocked though that I had the capacity to stay up. It's going to be a long journey back to Earth, especially awake. We won't be able to receive messages in Slipspace. Ships can only send and receive messages while both are in the slipstream, or vice versa. It's weird science, I know, but that's how it works.

So, until we drop out, we're an island. Sonic tried to make it more comfortable for me. I think he was trying to be romantic when he invited me back to the observation room for this evening, but I don't know. It's just been hectic. I don't think I want to do anything right now. I feel like I'm alone, I feel like there's nothing I can do, and I feel so small and a million light years from home.

Ten days can't pass fast enough.

::END ENTRY::


	94. Entry 94: March 15th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: March 15th, 3235<br>Entry Made 1520 (3:20 PM)

Dear Journal,

We've had a hull breach on one of the decks. The alert came in when I was having some breakfast in the cafeteria with some of the guys. I managed to find Sean Tennenbaum again! It turns out that he was safe and sound during the battle while he was safe in the Tech department which is buried in the bowels of the _Ontario_. He rode it out like a champ and was saying that they were thinking of promoting him to Petty Officer. We were all proud of him, so we were having a celebratory breakfast. Suddenly we heard something that sounded like a very soft boom, and then alarms were ringing. A pulsing blue light came on at the alarm light.

"_Attention. Attention, hull breach detected on port deck 6 exterior corridor Bravo. Repeat, hull breach on port deck 6 exterior corridor Bravo. Repair teams move immediately to breach and repair. Pressure door seal in effect._"

The voice had to be coming from the bridge. Probably one of the ensigns making that call. The boom caught me off guard. I thought we were under attack again. It was the sound of a corridor or a compartment decompressing. The air rushed out all at once. Thankfully, the doors sealed before more air could be blown through the breach. It was a bit scary to think of it though, but I remember Admiral Andsworth telling me once that decompressions aren't as dramatic as they make it seem in the movies.

"Did you hear that boom?" Tennenbaum asked. "I thought we were in trouble."

Sonic was still concerned. "Was anybody hurt?"

"Don't think so." I said. "They would have called a medical team, right? I looked at Tennenbaum. "Is a breach in Slipspace any more dangerous than normal space?"

I realized that I was only asking a Crewman these questions, but he must have gone through some of these at Boot Camp. "Don't think so. I guess it acts like normal space though. Except you revert back to normalspace when you leave our 'bubble'."

"Sal, remember when we had that hole in the dropship when we went through the jumpgate?"

Actually, I did. It was a very small hole. Probably the size of a small coin. It caused some dizziness from poor Tails who was sitting right in front of it. We got that patched up too. As long as we let professionals do their job, we would be ship shape in no time.

Later that afternoon I decided to see some the other Marines who had survived the ordeal on Tears of Piety. The only one that I could find was Gauss. The others were on ice, just like most of the crew. She was working in the infirmary of the ship. The Corpsman was only one of three working there. She sat at the desk in the place looking over some paperwork. I decided to knock to be polite.

She looked up to me and smiled weakly. "Hey Sergeant."

I realized she was referring to my honorary rank. I didn't need to be an officer. I didn't want to be an officer. If the other Freedom Fighters were to be Enlisted, so would I. I suppose the Lieutenant was an exception since he was commissioned well before I even met him.

"Hey Gauss. How are you?"

"I've been better." She admitted. "In for a checkup?"

"More like I'm checking up on you." I took a seat across from her. "The other guys are taking a nap, and I was in the neighborhood. Be honest with me. I think we were all shaken up from that."

She lowered her pen. "I think I'd be lying if I said that we couldn't have done that differently."

"It…" I struggled to find the words for it. "It was horrible. It really was."

"You know they train us for stuff like that. They train us to go into the worst fights and try to save people from the brink of death, you know, even if they're beyond saving. I've had to sit there assuring people that they would be alright as they were taking their last breaths. Sometimes it's all based on a lie. Lying to give them even the briefest amount of hope. But no lies could make me see differently what happened on that god-forsaken rock. People died. No getting around that, but when people die over information that could very well turn out to be useless? I don't know what you'd call it Highness… but that's a complete failure in my book."

Her face was impassive, and full of anger. I didn't know how to respond to it.

"We failed to get those people out alive. I failed to keep them alive. That reflects on me; that reflects on the captain and the ship. It reflects on the Navy and the Corps as well. Do you know what it feels like to know something like that?"

I had to be honest. Like she said, there was no point in lying. "No."

"Well, then I sincerely congratulate you and I pity you at the same time. The first time you feel like this, you'll feel like God has abandoned you. Mobians have Christians, right?"

"If you talk to a friend of mine, I think that God abandoned us a long time ago when Robotnik turned on us."

"Here's hoping He comes back." Gauss said softly. "Because I could sure use a hell of a miracle."

I think I discovered an equal in Katelyn Gauss that day. We were both just trying to seek justice for Julian Kintobor, but we had to go through some seriously bad experiences to get there. We weren't sure how much of our souls would be left when we were done.

In a way, I kind of envy Miles at this point. He's still a kid, but he's still got that sense of innocence. I had that too at that time. But it was a long time ago, and there's not a day that goes by that I want it back.

Sonic's getting more and more rowdy. He's been struggling to find some way of passing time on the ship. He's been in the gym every single day just running because he's so desperate to find a way to distract his mind from the fact that he's in a pressurized can travelling between dimensions. He's running every virtual reality simulation the gym has and he's been practicing running through a zero gravity obstacle course. Though he's still acting strange. He's been more and more "romantic" over the last couple of days. I… really don't need this right now. I just don't. Maybe when we get back home we can discuss it at least, but while I'm on this ship and while there are ghosts wandering this hall, I'll be perfectly happy to sleep in my own bed.

The captain's invited me to breakfast tomorrow. He's probably checking up on me and making sure that I'm acting alright. Captain Gregers Ekdal is a good man. Probably the most honorable Human I have ever met. If there's anybody in the UNSC that still has their soul, it's him.

::END ENTRY::


	95. Entry 95: March 17th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: March 17th, 3235<br>Entry Made 1800 (6:00 PM)

Dear Journal,

Today went probably the best of all of the days on this ship. We're supposed to be dropping out of Slipspace within 24 hours, so some of the crew has been woken up at about 4 AM today. Miles is essentially "Non-essential" so he's still going to be kept under until we get back to Earth. He'll probably be woken up around noon-ish, I think? That way it makes sense so he has some time to get his bearings, get a bit of quick rehab, or a routine medical check, and then he'll be good to go, but since he's a minor, he may have some different reactions to the thawing procedure. His fur may be a natural insulator which means that in order to achieve a temperature where his body could be suspended, he would have to have his tube put at a lower temperature than regular. So that means his thawing time will be extended as well.

The breakfast with Captain Ekdal the other day was quite nice. He invited me up to a place called the Captain's Nest. It's a private part of the command deck which serves as a personal observation post, meeting area, and recreation room for the Captain and ranking officers aboard a vessel. It was very extravagant. It had wraparound windows with triple strength shielding, a table with seating close to the windows, a hologram projector in the very center of the place, and something that I did not expect: a row of guitars tucked at one wall. He welcomed me in with his trademark smile and saw where my eyes went.

"Ah, you see my lovely collection? I call them _musikalske barn_, my 'musical children'. Take a look. I have ten guitars that I have picked up during my travels of the stars. Some are from Earth. Others are from some farther outer colonies."

"How did you get them?"

He grinned. "Well, I paid for them of course! With my own money too; completely out of my pocket. No, not right to bill the government for my musical tastes. Come. Come. Take a look at this one. This was the first I got… in '27 I think it was. I bought this back in Trondheim. This is a six-string Archtop."

It was a beautiful design. It was a shade of black that turned purple as you got closer to the top edge. The strings looked like they were gold-colored.

"It gives a beautiful noise." He pointed to a second. "This is a resonator guitar. It's supposed to use its steel here to amplify the noise of the strings. Kind of like a loudspeaker. If you pluck it, it has a louder effect, but I find that it's not as lovely as the Archtop."

I had to admire the Captain's insight on music. It was interesting to see more of his personality.

"Ah, and this… _Zdravstvuyte, Natasha_!" he pointed towards a solid red lacquer guitar that had what looked like Russian written on the side. "This is a thing of beauty. A seven string Russian Guitar. These are hard to find off Earth since other players I've seen seem to use even numbered strings. Natasha has seven, which makes it a bit more difficult to play at times. But this one is a charmer. This is by far my favorite. This comes from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. You don't know what it is, but this guitar used to belong to a great musician." He took it off its stand and showed it to me. "This is the tool that was used by the Rock legend himself Anthony Joss Letterman. This is the guitar that brought him to the top in 3045. This is the beautiful and masterful creation that earned him three diamond record awards, four platinum albums, a Nova Lifetime Achievement Award, and an Everlasting Spot not five feet away from Bob Dylan. Upon earning the spot, he repainted it in a chrome finish and sold it off. For nearly two hundred years this guitar has seen more auctions than the Mona Lisa itself. And nearly two hundred years later, it's mine." He gave me a sly smile. "And I'm taking it to my grave!"

He found his chair and sat down. Then he played a song on a two hundred year old guitar. The thing sounded like it was brand new. Never did I think that a ship captain could sing so well. It was much more that I deserved from him. I could sort of tell he was trying his best to make me feel better. I suppose the song was one of Letterman's that he sung all those years ago. According to the Captain, they still play some of them today.

Then we got to actually having our breakfast. It was nice to be somewhere quiet. Though I couldn't stop looking out the window at the darkness.

"You know, if you don't like looking at that sort of thing, we can put something else on if you'd enjoy."

"Put something else on?" I was confused.

"You like wide open meadows? With waterfalls?"

"Sure."

The Captain tapped on the window and keyed in something on a pad that appeared out of thing air. The blackness of Slipspace was replaced by a wide, sprawling green meadow that was alight with birds, chirping in the distance. In the foreground, a small stream was trickling to a point below the window. I tilted my head trying to see a seam in the illusion, but I could not. Everything I saw made me think that I was looking at a real meadow. The only thing that was off was the fact that there were two moons in the sky.

"Takes the loneliness away from Slipspace travel. A lot of the cabins have windows like these. It helps with coping being on a starship."

"It's lovely." I said simply. I was impressed.

"Am I that transparent?" He asked with a guilty smile.

I leaned in over my plate. "Captain, what you're doing for me is kind. Incredibly kind. What we went through down on that planet was something that I think we should never have to do again, but I know we do. I saw bravery and courage that I've never seen before, but I've also seen fear, fighting against someone who consciously fight back and _hate_ you. I can't forget it… but thank you anyway for trying to make me feel better. Though… I have to ask, why invite just me here? Sonic was just as affected."

"Your friend is different than you. He hides his fear. I think he likes to think he can take care of it on his own. When I asked if he'd like to come, he refused, saying that he was alright."

That did sound like Sonic. Defiant even with his greatest fears.

After breakfast, I decided to check in on another part of the ship – the Marine barracks. Even though I was technically a Marine, I was assigned to Navy bunks.

The barracks were on Deck 2. Some guys fresh out of the cryo-tubes were getting warmed up, and their sergeant… well, just listen to him…

/PLAY/

SERGEANT: Well hello, ladies! Everybody have a good sleep?

ALL: YES, SERGEANT!

S: Well holy crap, I think that you must be groggy! ARE YOU FREAKSHOWS AWAKE OR WHAT!

ALL: YES, SERGEANT!

S: Well, you aren't all braindead! How good for me! Guess that means I'm stuck with you lumps. Well, let's get the show on the road! BURNSIDE!

B: Yes, sergeant!

S: GET UP HERE!

B: YES, SERGEANT!

S: Well, you look pretty don't you!

B: Yes Sergeant!

S: All that beauty sleep must be good for you huh?

B: Yes Sergeant!

S: But Burnside, did you know that cryosleep basically shuts down the Human body?

B: Yes Sergeant!

S: So, you go in, and you go out, pretty much as you were.

B: Yes Sergeant!

S: So… so… EXPLAIN TO ME WHY THE FUCK YOU HAVE THREE DAYS OF FUCKING GROWTH ON YOUR UGLY MUG, BURNSIDE!

B: Sir…

S: SIR?! I DON'T SEE ANY 'SIR' HERE BURNSIDE! YOU SEEING THINGS, BURNSIDE? GOING SECTION 8 ON ME?

B: No Sergeant!

S: Look at this… LOOK AT THIS! TOE NAILS, DIRTY FINGERNAILS and... Oh my Lord. Oh my God. Is that… is that a crease? DID YOU PUT A CREASE IN THAT SHIRT?

B: This Private does not know, Sergeant!

S: LOOK AT THIS SHIT! LOOK AT IT! THIS LOOK LIKE A CREASE?! WELL?!

B: Yes, Sergeant!

S: YEEES WHAT, BITCHSTICK?!

B: THAT IS A CREASE, SERGEANT!

S: This shirt doesn't belong to you Burnside! This shirt belongs to the Corps! You mess with the property of the Corps, and you mess with me! Do you like potatoes Burnside?

B: Sergeant I…

S: ANSWER THE GODFRICKINDAMN QUESTION!

B: No, Sergeant, I do not!

S: Well… ain't that a shame. You're going to learn to love them Burnside! Three day KP!

B: Yes, Sergeant!

S: Get back in rank! Clementine!

C: Sergeant!

S: Get up here, Peaches!

C: Aye-aye!

S: Well hot damn, you actually look presentable! Your collar looks off. Fix it.

C: Aye-aye, Sergeant!

S: Just some simple questions, Cherry. Making sure whatever brain you have doesn't have freezer burn!

C: Yes, Sergeant!

S: What is your service number?

C: 11476-80023-JC, Sergeant!

S: What are the three main parts of a rifle?

C: Stock, Action, Barrel, Sergeant!

S: What is your rifle's serial number?

C: 442… 2…

S: I'M WAITING!

C: This private's rifle's serial number is 44…2…6?

S: You can't have forgotten. Oh, no you couldn't have. You sleep with that rifle by your bunk every night! You were taught the first day you stepped in boot camp REMEMBER YOUR GODDAMN RIFLE'S SERIAL NUMBER LIKE IT WAS THE NAME OF YOUR FIRST BORN CHILD! NOW WHAT IS YOUR RIFLE'S SERIAL NUMBER, SUGAR PLUM?

C: 44…2…2…5?

S: Oh for the LOVE OF GOD… IS THIS YOUR RIFLE, HONEYSUCKLE?

C: Yes, Sergeant!

S: READ THE GODDAMN NUMBER! READ IT

C: 442711682AJ, Sergeant!

S: Say the number!

C:442…7… I…

S: HOLY SHIT, YOU MAKE MY GOLDFISH LOOK LIKE IVY-LEAGUE MATERIAL! YOU ARE SERIOUSLY TOO DUMB FOR ONE LIFETIME, CLEMENTINE! YOU MUST BE THE LATEST IN A LONG LINE OF REINCARNATED ASSHOLES!

C: "Yes, Sergeant!"

S: You like potatoes, Clementine?

C: S…. S…

S: Suh… suh… suh…!

C: Yes, Sergeant!

S: Love to grow big and strong eating all them potatoes? Make you feel all full inside?

C: Yes, Sergeant!

S: Well, you're gonna be in heaven, Clementine! You and Burnside! Three days, KP! Gentlemen, start your peelers!

/END/

It went on like this for a whole hour. All the while I was standing in the corner practically biting through my tongue because I would not DARE laugh at his jokes. I let a squeak out after the line, "DAVIS, WHEN I HOLD UP MY EAR TO YOURS, I CAN HEAR A FRESH MOUNTAIN BREEZE!" One of the Marines, Showalter, turned to look at me. Oh it got bad from there!

"HEY! HEY! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!"

"Nothing, Sergeant!"

"THAT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE NOTHING, PUKELICKER! THAT LOOKS LIKE YOUR SENIOR NCO! WHY YOU LOOKING AT HER FOR? IS SHE PRETTY?"

This was a no-win question.

"I… I suppose, Sergeant!"

"WHAT?! I THOUGHT I WAS THE PRETTIEST GIRL ON THE SHIP, SHOWALTER! YOU SAID I WAS THE ONLY ONE! WHY ARE YOU BREAKING MY HEART? WHY?! ON THE GROUND, YOU MONSTER! PUSH! PUSH LIKE YOU'RE CONSTIPATED! 1 AND 2 AND 3 AND 4! 1 AND 2 AND MOVE IT; GROOVE IT! I'LL COME BACK TO GET YOUR BODY LATER! THE REST OF YOU GET OUTTA MY SIGHT!"

The Marines scrambled away from this man who walked with the grace of a titan. I thought he was going to yell at me just like he did those other souls. He spoke in a regular-person voice that I did not expect to hear. "Welcome to the barracks, Highness. I heard you were aboard."

"That was… wow." That's all I could manage.

"Yeah, it's not often I have an audience."

"I have to admit, I was expecting you to…"

"To keep on yelling?" he smiled. "Nah, I only do that around this group of gifted individuals. Can't afford to look soft."

Well, I was curious. "Why?" I asked.

"Why? I suppose the reason would be is that we have to barrage them with everything that we can to make them stronger. The goal is to make them thicker skinned. If I keep on throwing insults at them, they'll get used to it. When they get used to it, they'll be stronger Marines."

"Do you really hate them?"

"Hate them? Well a few of them have demonstrated how miraculously stupid Human beings can be, but I don't hate all of them. It's just a job. If I look soft, I'm not doing my job right, you know? I used to be a drill instructor on Earth. Gotta be hard if you want to go far."

"OMEGA didn't really go through much of the procedure."

"Well, you have a privilege that very few Marines get to experience. You get to bypass me." He smiled toothily."

"Would you do something similar for me?"

"What, grill you?" the sergeant asked. "Can't do it. You're my superior. All things considered, you should be doing that to me!"

After that, I realized that I was just a big softie. I couldn't yell at people the way that this man could. He made it look like an _art_. I had no idea that insults could be so important to a Marine's career. I mean, I was never the type of person that would ever get yelled at like this. Freedom Fighters don't have drill instructors. Only mentors that taught us to get the job done and do it right.

I realized right then how much more similar we were to Marines. We were closer than I thought. Sure, we were both trained to get the job done and do it right. Marines are just trained to do it with a straight face.

I'd better brush up on some insults before I get back to Earth. Maybe I'll surprise Chris. I am his superior after all. Crown beats bars.

::END ENTRY::


	96. Entry 96: March 19th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: March 19th, 3235<br>Entry made 2047 (8:47 PM)

Dear Journal,

I never thought that I'd be so happy to see Earth. Early this morning we dropped out of Slipspace just a bit beyond Lunar Orbit. The Captain wanted to know if I wanted to be on the bridge for when we transitioned. I said yes, but on the condition that the boys would be brought with me. Ekdal said yes since much of the ship was being taken out of cryo at this point in time anyway. So Miles was standing next to us in an _Ontario_ uniform that was tailored for his size. He looked rather comfortable in it. Sonic stood next to me with arms crossed, constantly whispering into my ear if we were there yet. I told him no constantly. I believe that a bit after six, the bridge crew announced that we were ready to drop out.

"All hands brace for transition to realspace." Ekdal ordered. "Let's get through the front door, Miss Lancaster!"

"Aye sir!" the Nav officer said. "Transitioning in four… three… two..."

The strange feeling passed over me again. The strange swooping feeling of passing into Slipspace slowly left me. Suddenly, I felt as if I were… normal again. The space in front of me went from darker than dark to… brighter I guess I can say? Just writing it doesn't really describe how alien the color of Slipspace is. Blacker than black. Now that I could see stars again was an incredible improvement.

In the distance against the background was Earth shrouded in the starlight, but shining blue. It brought a warm feeling to me. _Home_. But I had to stop myself. Earth wasn't my home. Why would I think that? I suppose it just _felt_ like home for some reason.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you back to the Sol system." The captain said to the bridge crew. "Lieutenant Ashfield, bring us into orbit around her."

"Aye-aye, sir!" he said.

I stood there for nearly another hour as the Earth got closer and closer through the bridge windows. Soon I could make out individual continents in the daylight. What an amazing sight to see a planet from orbit like this. Much better than Tears of Piety…

Within an hour, Ashfield said, "Orbit achieved. Apoapsis and Periapsis is nearly equal of 150,000 kilometers."

"Well done, Lieutenant!" Ekdal called and turned to face me. He gave a wide smile. "And that's what my job is like every day!"

The bridge laughed heartily except for the stone-faced Marine guards who made what I assumed were puffs out of their noses. Ekdal was a great guy to work for. Nobody I met before that could stack up. Nobody looked at life like Gregers Ekdal did. He would make an amazing Admiral.

"Captain, I would like to ask when I can get a shuttle to Earth."

"There's one en route as we speak. Need to go anywhere specific?"

"Oaxaca, actually."

"Mexico?" Ekdal asked. "Not my ideal vacation spot."

"I actually have a friend there who's been sitting under a Mayan pyramid for weeks now. I think he could use some company. He'll be happy to see I've returned."

He nodded. "Very well then. I think that any man who is stationed at a pyramid could use a little cheering up if you ask me." He stood a bit straighter. "If this is where you're going to leave us, Highness, I would like to say, _det har vært en glede_. _Takke deg for tilbringer tid med oss . _This means, it has been a pleasure, and thank you for spending time with us. Princess Sally Acorn, you have shown me you can run with the best of them. I give you my respect and I honor you. ATTENTION!"

The bridge crew stood at once. They looked at me and saluted, holding their arms like stone. I looked around at the men and women who gave me the sign of their respect. Even the Marine guards stood at attention loyally.

"At ease everybody." I said. "Thank you all. It means a lot."

"You heard her everyone. We still have a ship to run!" Ekdal said. The bridge crew nodded and returned to their stations. "Sorry I can't walk you to the airlock. I'm still on duty. Can you find your way there?"

"I'll be fine," I told him. "I hope this isn't the last time I see you, sir."

"Oh, I have a funny feeling you'll be calling on the _Ontario _again. I can see we made an impression on you."

He was right of course.

"Need me to change into something else?"

"Take the uniform. Think of it as a souvenir." He smiled. "Better get to that shuttle. We're off to Rassalov Station to refuel and resupply. You've got a ticket to Mexico young lady."

I gave a salute to the Captain, turned on my heel, and left with the boys in tow.

On the way to the airlock, Sonic asked me why they were only saluting me.

I said that they were honoring all of us. Naturally he didn't believe it and said something about how it was strange that he wasn't the hero anymore and that he wanted another chance in the spotlight.

I told him that the real heroes were the twenty six men and women who died on Tears of Piety.

That shut him up.

I'm starting to get a bit sick of Sonic's attitude now. It was characteristic before, but now he's starting to sound as if he actively hates these people. The world's bigger than you, Sonic. There are other people who get to be heroes too, you know. Tails was a bit more understanding. He explained that the people he worked with had already expressed their gratitude with him.

At the airlock, there was someone else I wasn't expecting to see. Waiting was Sean Tennenbaum.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I figured since we were back at Earth you'd be leaving. I wanted to say goodbye."

Sean was a good kid. He was a good guy that really showed development over my time on the _Ontario._ He held out his hand for a shake, but I pulled him into a hug.

"You take care of yourself, Sean. I want to see Lieutenant's bars on your shoulder next time we meet."

He smiled. Something I hadn't seen many times before. "I'll try my best. And Princess? Thanks for talking to me."

With that, we left the _Ontario_. On the shuttle, it dwindled quickly on the screens. Soon it was one of the stars that was in the sky. We zoomed past orbital stations and entered Earth's atmosphere. Sonic grabbed onto rigging at the top of the cabin. He never liked reentries. Tails sat there smiling, loving it all. The pilots weren't even fazed. This was burned into their minds. They could do this with their eyes closed.

There were a few other naval personnel with us. I decided to chat with them. Turns out that one of them was from upstate New York. I told them that I knew someone who came from the city proper. The other one was from London, Ontario. I had never been there so I asked about it. She said that the city was fairly small, but it was a comfortable place. She had family all over the Southern Ontario peninsula. It was neat to see the diversity in the UNSC, which showed that there was some unity between the people of Earth. Sure, people liked to keep their nationalities, and the countries they came from still existed as semi-sovereign political entities, but everybody lives under the same roof so to speak.

I wish that Mobians can follow the same example. There are a bunch of us that lives in a less than harmonious existence.

The shuttle pulled over the city of Santa Cruz in Oaxaca. I remember going through the worst part of that city when we checked in on Siennega Morelos. My ribs still remember that explosion. We didn't even get a good look at the city itself when we were descending upon the site where Monte Alban stood. I looked at the main pyramid and waited for someone to come out. As we hovered, I saw someone indeed exit the pyramid.

"I see him!" I called to the others. Miles tried to lean over to get a look. Sonic still looked at the ceiling, just waiting. Ten seconds later, the shuttle touched down. I picked up my bags and unclipped my seatbelt. I decided to speak with the pilots.

"You have enough fuel to get to North America?"

The pilot on the left nodded to me. "We may have to stop for a quick refueling in Denver, but we should be able to make it to New York just fine. From there, it's only a quick hop to the Ontario peninsula."

"Thanks for the flight, Lieutenants." I nodded. They appreciated it very much.

We were all up and ready to go. No doubt Chris was standing outside just wondering what the hell was going on. I climbed out of the ship and the first thing he did was laugh, place his hands on his hips and shake his head.

"You're not my guys!" He said over the slight whine of the shuttle's engines.

"We can get back on if you'd like?" I told him, playing along.

"The hell with that! Coffee's on!" We met halfway. "Highness! Welcome back!" He saluted me.

I rolled my eyes. "I thought we already covered this, Lieutenant." I hugged him, which he wasn't expecting. Though he returned it.

"Sorry, I think my mind's a bit rusty. Being in one of these places will do that to you. Well! Nice to see you, Petty Officer."

Miles smiled and looked at the ground. I don't think he was used to being referred to by rank. Though Chris did smile and clap him on the back. "It's good to see you buddy."

"Me too, Chris."

The Human looked at Sonic. "Hey dude."

"Yo."

That was it. That was all that they said to one another. I'm not embellishing! These were the words that came out exactly as they said it.

All the while I was waiting for Knuckles to come out to see us. I was waiting, but nobody came.

"Where's Knucks?" Sonic asked.

"What, Big Red? He's not here."

"Not here?" Sonic repeated.

"Is there an echo out here? No, he's not here. About seven days ago, Knuckles gets a letter in the regular supply shipments. Someone back home named Locke was sending him a message."

"Locke is his father's name." I informed him.

"No kidding? I had a conversation with this guy involving spaceflight technologies back in Albion. Small world! Anyway, the message said that there was some sort of religious festival that was going on at the Floating Island. So, he finishes the message, says 'I'll be back' but doesn't say when. Here I am seven days later with nobody but the spiders and the occasional mercenary to keep me 'company'. Dunno which one I hate more – the spiders or the mercenaries."

"You've been alone?" Tails asked.

"Well, not _alone_ in the strictest sense since I have basic communications with the outside world, but for lack of a better term, yes. I've been alone for the last 168 hours, and if this religious festival is the real deal, he'll be gone for another week."

Actually, I think I know this one. This is the Festival of Chaos. It's an ancient Echidnan religious ceremony that's been around for about 500 years if not more. Every two years, religious elders meet on the Floating Island to call festivities together where the participants eat, drink, be merry, and indulge. Think of Lent, but the exact opposite. What do you find you enjoy least? Do it, and do a lot of it. The Echidna treat this like a release. It's supposed to be healthy. All the while, games, parties, dancing, and prayers go on. I've actually been to one, but since I didn't follow the faith, I wasn't able to enjoy 100% of it. If Knuckles was gone for this thing, he was gone.

I felt sorry for Chris. Seven days in this place wasn't easy for anyone. Maybe Knuckles had some sort of fun with it, but for Chris, who wasn't much a fan of monotony… this was torture.

"What do you do?" Tails asked. "I mean, since you're alone with nobody to talk to?"

Chris thought about it and placed his hands in his pockets. "Hmm… let me think. Every day, I do some running early in the morning before the sun rises. Thanks to us being pretty much on the equator, that's the same every day. I run, I do lift, and do some punching exercises. A while ago, I've been doing some shooting too. Just out of sheer boredom."

"What do you shoot?" I asked, becoming concerned that he would be a wildlife hunter.

"Well, no animals… except for about two days ago."

"Oh no." I said.

He sat down on one of the pyramid's steps. "I was out here doing a regular patrol, checking some of the perimeter sensors when I see a leopard come out of the jungle. As long as I don't threaten it, it should be OK, right? It should go away?"

"It should." Sonic said.

"Not what happened. The leopard saw me and started coming right for me. I guess it was hungry. I had a weapon on me though, and I got it ready in case it started to attack. I've had experience shooing away tigers, leopards and such on Talahan, so I guessed this wouldn't be different. They told us this in the jungle, and I quote: 'In the event that you should encounter any large predatory animal (in this case a leopard), the first proper course of action is DO NOT PANIC. Following this, make eye contact with the animal and speak calmly and firmly with it. Do not run away or attempt to make any sudden movements. Also make sure to try and appear bigger than the animal to confuse it. Since you are non-typical prey, the creature may become confused and leave you alone thinking you are a nuisance rather than a meal."

"So what happened?"

"Well, Step 1 and 2 worked well enough. I made eye contact and spoke to the leopard. Of course, it can't understand me though, though I was happy to have any conversation at this point. I said, "Leave me alone! This is my camp! Don't make me hurt you!" Something along those lines."

"And then…?" Tails asked.

"Then it charged."

"No!" I said.

"Oh yes. That 120 pound animal ran straight for me screaming. I did what I had to do. I drew my weapon and fired."

"You killed it?" Tails asked.

Chris unbuttoned his shirt. "Not on the first shot." He put aside his overshirt and showed us his arms. Twin streaks of red, half healed slash marks were on both of his biceps. "After the first shot, it jumped on me. Leopards it seem can cover a lot of ground fast. When it tackled me, I was pressed into the dirt. It had some teeth, let me tell you!" He half-laughed, but continued with his story. "I did the only thing what I could do. I hit it in the face, pressed the gun against its neck, and fired. The second shot I killed it." He looked upset about it. "I know that it was a life or death situation."

"Would it have… killed you?" Miles asked softly. It was on my mind as well.

"Knuckles weren't here to help. Yes. It would have killed me. A bit anticlimactic for me. I make it through the Flying Factory, Mercia, and the jungles, and I get taken down by an oversized kitty cat on my own planet." He looked at a tarp in the corner. "There… there she is over there."

"She?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah. It was a female. A mother too, if I'm right. So… how was your trip? I've been trying to contact you for days, but I've been told that you were on a top-secret assignment."

Oh, it was top secret alright. "Yes, but you probably wouldn't want to hear it."

"Can't be any worse than my story."

"Oh, we will see about that." I told him walking with my bags into the pyramid. "You said you were waiting for guys?"

"Yes." He replied. "I requested some support to help rock-sit, since I've been presented a new assignment."

"What?" I asked. "A new mission?"

"Yes. It actually came from your government."

We were naturally confused. Why would the Mobians contract a UNSC officer to do a mission? Shouldn't the UNSC do that? He explained it all. About four days ago, a group of personnel plus a negotiator was sent into Southamer to look for a group we know as the Wolf Clan. They are a group of independent peoples that normally keep to themselves. Recently with what's left of Robotnik's forces on Mobius raising general annoyances, the UNSC along with our government wanted to join forces with the Wolves, or extend an alliance. That was going well until the entire party just disappeared without a trace. They wanted Chris to lead another team?

"Your parents trust OMEGA, though the orders were for me though and a small group of people that have worked with Mobians on several occasions. Our mission is to go in there, find out what happened to them, and complete their mission if possible."

"And what if the team is gone?" I asked seriously. I couldn't imagine the Wolves doing something like this. There had to be more to it.

"We ascertain the situation, figure out why they're down, and complete their mission."

"And what if you decide to shoot things up, huh?" Sonic interjected.

"That won't happen." Chris guaranteed. "The Wolves are allies until we see otherwise. If they shoot at us, I'll want to defend myself. Regardless, I don't think I'll need to do anything like that."

"We'll see." Sonic said.

"That's right, Sonic. We'll see." The Marine said pointedly. "Hang on… you guys are here. Could I ask a favor?"

"What?" I asked.

"I said before I was waiting for some guys to rock-sit for me. They've been delayed a few days, so I was content with waiting, but you guys are here, so maybe I can ask you to do it?"

"Us?" Miles asked. "We've never done anything like that before."

The Lieutenant said, "Believe me, there's really nothing to it. I've been on my own for a week, and I can tell you this is the easiest way to earn a paycheck in the world. Simply sit, watch Master Emerald, and in the unlikely event that things get weird, hit the big red panic button which will call down a team of top men to lock it up."

Well… we were here. And he did have a job to do. I was in no hurry to jump back into the fray. This place was pretty peaceful by comparison.

"Alright. We'll do it." I said.

"What?" Sonic asked. "Sal, thanks for asking for our input!"

"Want to leave? Go ahead. Take a shuttle back home, or suck it up and stay."

Miles on the other hand was happy to stay. "It can't be any worse than Tears of Piety."

We walked into the pyramid and left Sonic to brood for a little while. I heard him start to talk to the Human, and the talk was not very nice. I decided to let them slug it out. The inside of the pyramid was how I remembered it last time. Ancient, dark, and dingy. I saw some of the rooms where the Lieutenant went about his life in here: a recreation room with a computer seating, and bedding. There was something approaching a kitchen. Some supplies were stacked in the corner along with some weapons. Some of them were standard issue UNSC rifles, but some of them were different with curved magazines. Some of them must have been taken from mercenaries that have been presumably politely turned away. Chris' bed was neatly tucked up military-style. There were some stacks of paper where it looked like he drew sketches to keep his mind occupied. He was an OK artist. No Rembrandt though.

"Well, this is my home." The Human said. "The cobwebs really bring out the stonework. The Master Emerald is further down this hall."

The Emerald itself was pretty uneventful. It sat there and glinted in the lighting. Some lasers protected it, and if need be, deployable sentry turrets could be remote-deployed. Well, I suppose this could be OK.

He had only one request though. According to him, Knuckles had grabbed Chris' datapad by accident. He needed mine. After some deliberation, I decided to let him have it, on the only rule that I'd better get it back in the condition I lent it to him, menu structure and all. Next entry will be by him when he's on Mobius.

Until he gets back… I guess I can get used to the scenery for a few more days.

Tails was right. It sure beats Tears of Piety by a long shot.

::END ENTRY::


	97. Entry 97: March 23rd, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: March 23rd, 3235<br>Entry Made 1517 (3:17 PM)

Dear Journal,

I get that Sally said that I should keep this as close to her original prerequisites as possible, I'll be doing a bit more tinkering with some of the settings. I've learned my lesson from last time when I messed with this thing. It was embarrassing. I'm a professional for God's sakes, I shouldn't be a laughingstock.

Crossover was exactly as I expected occurring twenty hours ago at 2017 hours aboard the first shuttle I could get across the Jumpgate. I was brought straight to the castle to receive briefing by the person who gave me the mission – Colonel Art T. Bore. As you can tell, that was a funny way to say that I was taking orders from a five foot tall pigman. Of course, I wouldn't say it to his face, but the colonel was not the most handsome looking man I have ever met in my life. I saluted him regardless to which he returned and asked me to take a seat. I saw some of the other men that have been asked to come in. I didn't recognize any of them, though I saw two Mobians among the five others. Only one person was of equal rank to me – a man who looked double my age in one seat with a shaved head that was tattooed on the neck. His name tag read 'Van der Beck'. No doubt he also saw I was an officer, but furrowed his brows. He obviously wasn't what I was expecting.

Colonel Bore explained to us the situation regarding the Wolf Clan here in Southamer. About eight days ago, a negotiation team headed by a UN Delegate was asked by the Wolf Clan to meet near their village. The negotiator's name was Francesco Gallardi, an Italian-born Canadian member of the UN's committee. Gallardi was escorted by armed guards that were there for his protection, though Gallardi himself ordered the guards to wait nearby. He said that he didn't want to provoke the people he was meant to get in contact with. However, neither the delegate nor the guards have responded for over a week. People are nervous, and above all, they're nervous that the Wolf Clan has done something to the group, whose only intention was peace.

That's what I'm here for. Peace. Something that I think we could do with more of.

Lieutenant Van der Beck sat across from me in the dropship simply looked at me with inquisitive eyes. He hadn't said much since we boarded the dropship bound for Southamer. I decided to say something to him. "This seems like a mission where the risk shouldn't be too bad, right?"

"You still speak like a raw recruit." Van der Beck said. "Let's get one thing straight, Junior: on this mission, you take orders from me. Is that clear?"

"We're the same rank, sir. I think we should both take some thought from each other."

"I don't think so." The other Lieutenant said. "I have age and combat experience seniority. You shouldn't be wearing those bars, son."

"I _earned_ my rank."

The other soldiers looked at us with curiosity. A clash like this would possibly drive a wedge between everyone.

Van der Beck huffed and leaned back against the wall. "You _earned_ them, huh? Who do you think you are? Son of some general who wanted the best for his little boy? Did you do a few favors to get those bars?"

"I was on Talahan, which is probably more than I can say for you."

Van der Beck tilted his head. He thought I was lying. "Yeah? What was your Home Base?"

"Fort Flagstone, stayed there from '32 to '33 before I was moved across the continent."

"Who was your CO?" the other man asked.

"Man by the name of Roswell Benedict."

"I've never heard of him."

"Then I guess you don't keep your ears open, or don't know a great man when you hear about him."

It was clear I wasn't going to be friends with this guy. I was only saying it like it was. If he got angry, well, shit happens. I decided to look among the other members of our group. The four other Humans were all Sergeants of varying rank: Sinclair, Bale, Vicci, and Mashtar. The two Mobians were much more identifiable. The one on the left side of the dropship was a hedgehog named Marc Poole, and the other was a man I've heard some stories about. A guy named St. John. Poole was only a Corporal, but St. John was the only one of us who didn't wear an insignia. We tried to get some more information out of him. He spoke with an accent that didn't sound native.

"Look lads, I'm sure you mean well with your questions, but I'm mostly here as an observer, right?"

Bale remarked, "How many observers are armed with an assault rifle?"

"If you plan on covering your arse from time to time, plenty."

"Where are you from, Mister St. John?" I asked.

"You first, Human."

"New York City."

"Anyone else?" the mysterious observer said.

"Fifth Avenue." Sinclair said. I raised a thumbs-up in approval.

"Lockherd, Greenfield Prime." Bale announced.

"Rome, Italy." Vicci said.

"What about you, Tats?"St. John asked Van der Beck.

"I'm not about to goddamn tell you a thing." The Lieutenant said.

Oh I did not like him at all.

"Alright, alright. Keep your ink on, _sir_! Dutch, right? I can tell the accent."

"How would you know that?" I asked.

"Not like videos never existed, right? We kept a few things in good condition."

The pilots announced that we were well over the Southamer jungles. I was about to unstrap when the Netherlands Nasty got up and pointed this meaty finger in my way. "You sit in that seat and don't move, Junior. I'm gonna go talk to the pilots. Remember – I'm in charge here."

I'll admit, I let a '_Remember – I'm in charge here_' escape my mouth in that childish mocking voice. I haven't done that in a while.

Lieutenant Jerkass returned a few minutes later explaining that the pilots were going to put us down in a clearing where the original team set down. A thought crept up through me that this place could be haunted. Just an old warrior's tendency. Vicci said it though.

"I've got a bad feeling about this. No trace of guys, no cause of disappearance – _sfortuna_ I think."

"I think we're going to figure out what really happened versus blaming bad luck." Van der Beck said.

I agreed with him. I may not have liked this guy, but I would trust him with decisions. They took us into the clearing a few minutes later. Ten seconds after touchdown, we were on the dirt and the dropship was back in the air.

"_Forward-1, I'll be nearby. Call for pickup when ready_."

"Solid copy, Captain." Van der Beck said. "We're on the move. Good flying."

You know, I don't have a problem when someone wants to assume command. I can understand that if someone has more experience they can take command, but when someone does it in a manner that directly insults me? You deserve my ire. But… but… I have to leave it at that. Rule number 20 quoting from the Unholy One – "A Marine's worst enemy is not the enemy, but another Marine". We can't be at each other's throats. It's bad for our health. As much as I want to give Van der Beck a piece of my mind, I've got to roll with it.

Boots on the jungle. This was a big feeling that I couldn't describe. The moment my boots sunk into the jungle soil, I went back in time. Something about the heat and the humidity, and the smell of the jungle brought me back to Talahan. It was not a good feeling, but at the same time it brought about a strange sense of nostalgia that almost seemed… homely for me.

Southamer smells different. I know that's a strange thing to say, but the jungle smells different from Talahan. That was the first thing that stood out for me. I suppose when we deal with different planetary environments, there's different chemicals in the air and maybe the wood's a bit different. When you breathe that stuff in for nearly four years, it leaves an impression on you, right? I was 18 years old, and that smell will always be on my mind, and will be the benchmark for all jungles from now on. That was the first jungle I had ever smelled, and it clashed with what I was breathing now, and it clashed hard.

The jungles of Southamer, and I guess the jungles of Earth smell… peaty I guess the word would be. There was a very leafy sort of steamy smell that clashes with the very woody smell that the Talahan jungles have. The bird sounds though were very similar, and the sun punched through the canopy creating a nice shadow on the ground. The trees are different, but that's a given.

"Hey, hey, you alright in there?" St. John was tapping me on the shoulder. "You're zoning out on me, mate."

I told him I was having a memory.

"Of a jungle? Good memory or bad?"

"Depends. I guess mostly bad ones."

"Secret Service never had me jungle crawling."

So that was his job. "Secret Service, huh?"

"Eyes of the Royals, mate. Come on."

So we moved as a unit through the jungle. I made every single step and analyzed it all. The dirt was different. The moisture was different, and it was glorious. A lot of people didn't make it off Talahan to make this comparison. Bale fought on Talahan. I could see it in his walk. He had the same sort of feeling I did. Though I saw way more creases on his face. He saw a lot worse stuff than I did. Not the sort of stuff you'd ask about though.

We only had the rough direction of where the team was heading; no hard facts. We got lucky a few times where we found some boot-prints in the ground. They were standard issue military boots, UNSC had been through here. Maybe a week ago given the distance from the landing site. Naturally there wouldn't be much to go on.

"Hey, what's that over there?" Bale said, pointing to something that glistened. Something was shining.

"Metal piece?" Vicci said.

I walked over and picked it up. It was only a wrapper. CrunchyChoc. That shit's bad for you – it's almost 100% sugar. I'm a Galaxy Bar man myself.

"What is it?" Poole asked.

"The sign of a litterbug." I said seriously. "The worst kind of person." I actually crumpled up the wrapper and stuck it in one of my pockets. "At least we know we're on the right track."

Van der Beck continued to assume command. He ordered us forward, but ordered us to fan out. "Vennettilli, Take Poole and St. John with you. You've done some time with the furries, right?"

I tried to get them to calm down. I saw the dirty looks in their eyes. "Come on guys, I'll take point."

I think we were all glad to leave Van der Beck behind and go our own way. St. John and Poole could keep up in the jungle, though I started to notice Poole was slowing down. I asked if he was alright.

"Just… just a bit hot, sir."

"You look like you're gonna have a heat stroke!"

"I'll be fine."

"The hell you are. Take off your jacket. It's 40 Celsius out here."

I'm surprised Poole didn't do this already. He was only a Corporal, so I guess the Boot Camp memories might be fresh in his mind. I don't know how Royal Marine Boot Camp is from a UNSC one. Poole took off his jacket and tied it around his waist. I'm not sure how Mobians sweat, but they do it in a similar way to Humans it seems, despite the fact that the sweat itself has to work its way through the fur. His shirt was nearly drenched. Did he not think this through?

St. John on the other hand was ready for this. He wore a shorter sleeved T-shirt with what looked like the Secret Service's logo in the center of it – 3 crossed swords surrounded by a laurel with some Latin writing underneath it. He wore a simple backpack and what looked like a Knothole Standard issue rifle. It was long, had a receiver to barrel carrying handle, and had a long magazine with transparent casing. I thought that a Secret Service agent would be a bit more… discreet? Then again, he was here for a reason.

"You said you were in a jungle, sir?" St. John asked.

"Yeah, for 3 years."

"Anywhere special?"

"Nowhere you'd want to take a vacation. Between the tropical diseases, the Trench Foot, the carnivorous predators… not to mention the lovely locals…"

"I think I'd be more than happy here on Mobius. Space travel, huh? Not sure I like that."

"Yeah, what's that like?" Poole asked.

"Just a natural part of our society. It's nothing special really." I told them. "You get used to it after your first time."

"I think I'd like it better if I wasn't in a pressurized can where we get pelted with space rocks."

"Oh come on, it doesn't happen like that. You've watched too many bad movies. It's the safest way to travel."

"Right sure."

"Look, if you don't want to get on a spaceship, that's OK with me. You want to gain some perspective on the universe, that's OK too. Poole, what do you think?"

No response. He must have paused to catch his breath. He did that a few times on the walk. When we turned around though, he wasn't there. I checked my motion tracker. Poole was gone.

"Load it." I ordered the Mobian. We pulled our charging levers, sending the first round into the chamber. Our tools of destruction were now armed. "Forward Actual, Forward 1: Poole's… gone."

Van der Beck's voice came over the COM. "_Gone? What do you mean gone?_"

"I mean everything. No body, no equipment, no weapons – he's vanished!" I immediately got bad memories of times in the jungle where some of our men were picked off silently.

"_Look for him! I'm not losing any more men!_"

"I'm on it." I said and closed the COM. I ordered St. John… Geoffrey was his first name to move in one direction, and I in the other. We were to keep in constant contact. I pushed aside some bushes to go further next to this giant tree. Maybe a cocoa tree I think. More footsteps though. However, when I looked at them, I noticed that they were not the standard issue boots I saw earlier, but instead it seemed like a bare foot… except they had claws on them. That's when I knew I was surrounded.

"Stay your ground!" Someone shouted. I stood up and had my rifle at the ready.

"Halt!" I shouted at the noise. It seemed to be coming from the bushes.

"There are fifteen archers hidden by tree and shadow! They are ready to fire at my saying. Drop your weapon."

Was I about to make a stupid decision? No, I dropped the gun on the ground. Something moved at the line of bushes. A figure walked out to meet me. It was a Mobian female. She was a graceful wolf that was a bit taller than I was even. She was dressed in a robe or perhaps a tunic of sorts, and she walked barefoot. Her hair was braided and she had bright blue eyes. By all accounts, she was very good looking, if she didn't have a spear pointed at me of course.

"Who are you?" She demanded.

"I'm not a threat if that's what you're asking." I said to her. "I'm just here to talk."

"You are like the ones before. Your people have not been here since the moon was whole, and my great grandfather hunted in the lands beyond."

"I'm a Human." I still said with my hands up. "Could you please put down your spear miss… um… what is your name?"

"Be quiet!" she ordered. I shut up right away. "You are trespassing on these grounds!"

"We're just here to talk."

"Yet you arrive with weapons of fire." The wolf said. "One does not seek peace with a hand extended and another grasping a blade."

"The last group of people had a negotiator. They vanished all of a sudden. Did your people have anything to do with that?"

"A negotiator? Someone to talk…? No, we did not know this! Archers _Arayete!_"

I should have known one of them would be jumpy though. I should have thought that at least one of them would have an itchy trigger finger and do something completely by accident since they were so scared by seeing a living breathing Human. No sooner had this wolf given the order to stand down, an arrow flung out of the trees and struck me right underneath my right clavicle. They had been aiming for my heart.

I didn't feel it very much. The goddamned archer scored a lucky hit. The arrow passed through some mesh between my chestplate and my right shoulder pauldron. Like I said, I didn't feel it at first, but then a piercing pain went through me and I roared in agony. Advanced Human armor was beaten by a pointy rock on a stick. I supposed half of the pain was embarrassment.

"NO!" I heard her cry. "WHO DID THAT?! _Odo'id Ey, _HUH?!" She was at my side. "Warrior, stay with me. That arrow was not good. I need to bring you to camp! You need attention, now!"

Those words sounded so far away. I was surprised she could carry a Marine wearing armor so easily. "Somebody get my gun for me, huh?" I asked. Again, it sounded like I was hearing myself from the bottom of a deep well. My eyes felt heavy. I think I was passing out, or that arrow had some sort of paralysis agent in it. Either way, I was out in no time.

Someone's getting fired. If there's one thing that you never do when a person offers alliance: shoot them with a goddamned arrow.

::END ENTRY::


	98. Entry 98: March 24th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: March 24th, 3235<br>Entry Made 2200 (10:00 PM)

Dear Journal,

1LT CJ VENNETTILLI REPORTING,

Figure I'd try that out since I wouldn't be changing a lot of the Journal's systems. I'll just write this whenever I've got this thing.

The pain in my shoulder has not gone away since I got that arrow stuck in it a few days ago. Hard to believe, but arrows are not the most popular projectile fired at us. That being said, it's ingenious since it goes through a lot of personal shields since it's too slow for the shields to catch.

I woke up some time later in what looked like a house of some sort. It wasn't a hut, but it was not modern in any sense of the word. The floors were reeds, the roof was thatched, and the walls were hard stone. I tried to get up, but something forced me back down.

"Rest, warrior." I heard the voice say.

It was that woman who rescued me earlier. The Wolf lady. I didn't know who she was, but the first thing that came into my mind was to thank her. The second thing that came into my mind was to ask where Poole and St. John were. I moved my head to look at her. She was dressed a bit more comfortably. If I could describe it, she was wearing what I would recognize as a glorified bathing suit. The tunic had gone and she was much more comfortably dressed her. She sat on her knees and had her tail tucked around her. I glanced at the corner and saw my armor stacked in a pile. I was wearing part of my BDU though. My T-shirt had been taken off. I also noticed a couple bowls of water. One clean and one bloodied. Between the two was one wicked-looking and bloody arrow, certainly the one that had been buried near my neck.

"Keep your arms straight as well. I am working."

"Where am I?"

"You are safe in our village. I carried you here myself."

I was about to ask 'yourself' in amusement, but looking at the size of her arms, I was inclined to believe her. Since I couldn't see well, I didn't see how she was cleaning and repairing the wound. According to her, the arrow had dug itself into an area below the bone and was lodged there.

"I apologize, but I had to widen the wound to get the arrow free. It was serrated as well. Had I pulled it out, it may have caused more damage than it initially did."

"I understand." I told her. "Hurts like hell."

"The poison is wearing off. Our warriors use poison from the snakes to create a liquid that can put creatures to sleep. It obviously works on your kind."

"What's your name?" I asked her.

"You may call me Lupe, warrior."

I laughed. It hurt.

"What?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Lupe. That's funny. In one of our languages, the word for 'wolf' is _lupo_."

The female wolf lady smiled at me. "Perhaps it was from a time when our two peoples were one."

"I don't think we were ever _one_, but our people watched over yours when you were…" I searched for a good word. "…Children."

She seemed to agree with that. "The Wolf Clan knows things, warrior. We know of times since before the moon was broken and before the plague swept the land."

Darwin's Plague. That was 300 years ago, if not more. Not out of the question to know something about that. These people must have had contact with the last of the Terra Novan Humans though.

"Were there any… computers?"

She was confused by this. She didn't know what these things were.

"Great stores of knowledge, almost like gods that can bring you information instantly."

"Again, we know nothing of this. Beyond our books, there isn't much at all."

Damn. There goes information. But I had a job to do here.

"Can I get up yet?"

"Not yet. Stay still. I have told you my name, warrior. What is yours?"

"Chris… Ah, First Lieutenant Chris James Vennettilli."

"I looked at your armor, warrior. It is well made. It isn't leather or bronze. It looks like the armor worn by those on the Northern Continent. Though… it is different."

"It's military grade titanium polyweave." This was over her head. "Well, it's special armor. See, I'm a Marine. A warrior of the sea, sky, and land."

"I have heard this word before. "Marine." You fight from ships"

"Yes. Big ships that fly above the world. We fight in the water as well and move in armies. But we mean you no harm. We're here for peace."

She let me sit up. The wound on my collar was indeed a bit wider from what I could see. Lupe had stopped the bleeding. I told her that I had some of the documents expressing our formal asking for alliance. "You can read our language?"

"I'm fine. I have gone to Knothole on occasion before." She went to my backpack. I told her that it was in the large pouch on front. A folded piece of paper was there. She read it over carefully. I followed her eyes to see her reading the words. She looked at me a few minutes later. "The Doctor has left this world?"

"Yes, and now he is hiding in ours."

"Then I do not understand what you would like from us, warrior."

"Just friendship." I said simply. I truthfully didn't know the extent of the intentions, but I sure wasn't here to pick a fight.

She nodded and returned to me. "Then you are a good man. There have been many in the past who have come to our village to fight us. We are tired of this. We do want peace. She had a needle in her hand. "Hush now, warrior. I'm going to seal up that wound. Don't make any sudden movements."

I was surprised with the fact that she could make good use of the most basic medical equipment. Even though we have healing tanks for our worst cuts and scrapes, you can never go wrong with the classics.

"When your people had the… pleasure to greet me, I had friends with me. Two men, Poole and another named St. John."

Lupe's ears perked at this. "Both Mobians, correct?"

I nodded my head.

"We took precautions. They are not harmed, and they have been treated well. However, they have been confined to some of the smaller homes. You are in my home."

"Oh… it's quite a nice house."

"It is modest. A leader should not live lavishly among their citizens. A true leader bears with the others in their troubles. It is only then that true respect forms."

"You'd make a great general."

She probably didn't know what I meant, but she thanked me just the same.

"You don't have fur. It is quite… special to see someone like you, where you can see the minor things that say a lot more."

Wait, what did she say?

"You have scars. Bravery no doubt. A true warrior does not shy away from battle. It is only when our lives are gambled when we find out who we truly are."

"You seem to know a lot. What do my scars say about me?"

She looked me over, running her hands over my arms, and abdomen, feeling the scars. "Mmm, your battlemarkings tell me that you have seen war for a time. You are still young. I can see it in your face, warrior. But your scars tell me that there are more that must join them."

I wasn't all that happy to hear that. I nearly died many times on Talahan and would be wearing these souvenirs for the rest of my life. What more could come?

"How old are you?"

"21." I answered.

"The boys in the village could look upon you as an inspiration. Someone so young and so courageous would be a fine role model."

I was hearing a lot of words I don't think I wanted to hear.

"Well, in our culture, warriors like me… well, many of us want to turn away from war. We believe that peace should always be the first choice."

"As do I. However, sometimes war is inevitable, and there must always be those who must do battle. A sad truth, yet one you can find honor in."

She ran her needle through my torn skin. With expert precision, she sewed it back together and bit the string with her teeth. She helped me up and steadied me.

"Steady, warrior. Your body may not have worked the poison out." She said.

I noticed that my knife was laying on the floor close to the bloody arrow. She must have drawn it. She followed my gaze. "I was inspecting your weapon. It is well made. Far superior to our weapons. Who was the smith?"

"I'm not sure." I took the knife and slid it back into its sheath. "It's an Ontario Mark VII Combat Knife. I know the company who made it, but not the individual."

Lupe was baffled, but amused by me. I suppose I was an oddity to her. And I think she thought I was cute too. Kind of the same way you think a puppy chasing its tail is cute. What worried me was the brass I saw on the ground. It was one of the cartridges for my Desert Eagle. I quickly bent down and picked it up. "Where are the rest of these?"

I think Lupe realized she did something wrong and said, "I… I wanted to see that weapon as well. The firearm. I've never seen one like it."

"You could hurt yourself!" I said tracking the other bullets. I found three more and the rest were in the magazine right next to the gun, which sat unloaded. I quickly ejected the round that was in the chamber, reinserted the cartridges into the mag, slammed it into the weapon, and clicked on the safety. "I don't know if you've ever seen a gun before, but I don't want you to blow your head off. These bullets… needless to say, they're killers."

She still looked at me, tail slowly swishing. "What was your real mission here?"

"Excuse me?"

"Peacemakers extend hands without weapons. Your words are true, but your hands mean war. What was your real mission, Marine?"

She was smart. Very smart. "Alright. Eight days ago we originally sent someone to talk peace with your people. No weapons. No tricks. The negotiator, a man named Vicci, was only given a guide force. However, a while after landing, we lost contact with him. Me, along with seven others was sent to find them, confirm whether or not they're… down… and if necessary, complete their mission. We could really use some friends here."

Her ears perked. "You said seven men. There were only three of you. The ones called Poole and St. John."

"You didn't see the other four? Men like me, led by a man named Van der Beck."

"We only saw three of you, and you were the only one of your kind we saw."

That made things interesting. Either Van der Beck was still out there in the jungle somewhere, or he was captured by whoever found Vicci. One way or another, I was the only UNSC Marine in this village. Lupe helped me get to my feet and she gave me the arrow.

"This is what we pulled out of you."

It was a well made thing too. It was fashioned out of a larger piece. Feathers of some bird covered the back of it, and the head was of interesting design too. It had your usual point, but it also had nasty looking hooks on the ends that would have torn more flesh if one were to pull it out. This was clearly an anti-personnel arrow. They wouldn't use these on beasts. The tip was stained red with my blood.

"Well, it could have been worse." I said simply. "I think I'm ready to be discharged." I smiled, feeling my now-sewn up skin.

"Let it heal, young one." Lupe said. "Your skin will need further attention."

I took a look around her home. It was very different than what I was used to. There were no electronics of any sort. No pictures, nothing I would really recognize as comfortable furniture. There was a table and chairs in one part of the house which sat on the lightly stoned ground. A few woven baskets and boxes took the place of what I thought containers were. This felt closer to a Gallvente house back in Helgo Questok.

There was a second story in the home which was accessible by ladder. I could see beds or bunks up there. "That's where you sleep?"

"Yes. Myself and my children."

"Children? You have children?"

"Yes, I do. You sound surprised."

"I… kind of am. Are you married?"

I saw Lupe fiddle with something on her wrist. "I… once. There's a phrase that the people from the North use: It's ancient history. My husband was… he died in battle defending our village. That was four years ago."

"I'm sorry." I told her, if it was any consolation. "I've lost a loved one of mine last year. It… could have been prevented."

She smiled. "You and I are more alike than you know. The years may separate us, but we are cut from the same cloth. I don't wish you to get the wrong impression, but I feel… responsible for you. While you are in this village, and while you are with us, I will do all I can to keep you safe."

"I appreciate it greatly."

"Come. Get some air." She opened the door and I stepped into the sunlight. I covered my eyes and looked at the Wolf Clan village. Already, a group had formed around me. This was starting to look familiar to me… but not in a good way. Every time I went to a new part of the planet, I turned into a freakshow for the people. "Oooh, look at him! He has no fur! His ears are on the side of his head! Where's his tail, mommy?"

"Ah, I believe this one would like to speak to you." Lupe pointed out a young man standing next to the door with ears bent down in shame. "This is Lodros. He is a junior hunter. Lodros, would you like to introduce yourself to the warrior?"

"Ah… I… I am Lordros, sir. I am a hunter. You do not know me… but I know you sir. I…"

"Go on." Lupe said.

"I was the one who shot you, sir." Lodros dropped to his knees. "I admit my mistake! I acted out of turn and nerves. I beg for your mercy. I was given an order and I did not fulfill it. Please forgive me."

I'm not sure if this was honorable or pathetic. It must have been different in this culture, but Marines certainly don't drop to their knees when they fail to carry out an order. Then again, this kid wasn't in the military. He was a hunter, and he was part of a tribe of Hunter-Gatherers with low level agriculture and no advanced technology.

However, Lupe looked to me expectantly. She was seeing how I would react. I had to choose my words carefully.

"Stand up." I told him.

Lodros got to his feet, yet his ears were still folded. He was confused. "You did act out of turn, yet your mistake was not your conscious choice. You made an error, which can be forgiven. Your choices can hurt others though, Lodros. I hope you will learn to appreciate the fact that your shot did not kill me."

"Oh, I do!" he said. "I do indeed! Thank you for your understanding, sir!"

"You were fortunate. If you did happen to kill me, I would make sure my ghost comes back from the abyss beyond to instruct you on how to better hold your weapon until you're an old man. Are we clear?"

Now that I had given him a threat, I saw some reflex in there. Perhaps spirits were heavy in the culture? Regardless, he stood straight.

"I do understand, sir! Again, thank you for your judgment! Bless your day, warrior!" Lodros scurried away, looking once over his shoulder at me.

"You were soft on him." Lupe said. "He deserved a stricter response. He did almost kill you, you know?"

"I've seen worse." I told her. "When someone screws up, you let them know it, but you let them know that it could have been worse. Telling it like it is allows the person to rationalize why they did what they did, and how they can correct it."

"And the part about the spirits?"

"Nah, there's nothing to come back from for me."

Lupe told me about the Clan's history that went back 400 years since the last of the Humans disappeared. The Terra Novans were something of a legend to her people. No Wolf had ever truly seen a Terra Novan. Instead, they only heard the barest of rumors from the North. I was one of the first in a very long time. I wonder if other Humans on this planet travelling to other parts had received a similar welcome?

She was a tribe elder, even though I learned she was only in her mid thirties. The ruling Elders were both male and female and had experience in battle with other tribes too. Some had even gone to the North as evidenced by some of the items in the Elder's hut. Modern boxes, books, a globe, and a Knothole Armories suit of armor sat in the corner. These people were not ignorant of the world. They wanted to learn. One of the elders, a man with fading eyes growled at me in his language.

Lupe said, "He wants to know why you are bare. You have tufts on your body, yet the rest of you is bald."

I really didn't have an answer for him. There was an evolutionary answer for this, but it was not on my mind. I simply said that it was just the way we were.

"Sometimes that's the simplest answer, isn't it warrior?" Lupe said. "We just are."

With all that done, I asked to be taken to Poole and St. John. They were being held in the healer's hut.

"Poole is not doing well right now. It seems the heat is getting to him." Lupe announced as we trudged down a dirt path in the center of the village. "The heat is getting to him. These jungles are not for everyone."

"Yes." I told her. "The jungles are not for everyone."

We saw some children playing ball. Lupe pointed two of them out. "My children there. Marcos and Maria."

I was taken off guard to hear European names. There must have been some influence on the tribe in the past. However, I wasn't paying attention. The heat was indeed getting to me as well. Only I was reminded of fire…

…and gunpowder…

… and blood. I did not like the jungle.

"Have I upset you?" She furrowed her brows in concern. "I did not mean this. Accept my apologies."

"No. I'm fine." I said. "There are some battles I think we are willing to forget. Your hospitality is more than kind, Chief, but the jungle…"

"I understand. We shall not speak of it again. Come."

At last, after what felt like hours, we reached the building where the Mobians were being held. Lupe opened the door and allowed me in. I saw a man doing pushups in the corner. It was Geoffrey.

"Working out?"

"Oh, hey mate." He said between breaths. "Gotta keep my shape even in prison, right?" He did a few more. "48… 49… 50! Woo!" He got up. "I know, I know, it ain't a prison. They've been treating us well. They got some good wine here. They say it helps with the heart, right? Some of the ladies aren't half bad, either."

"I'd bet they can still break you in two?"

He gave me the innocent eyes. "Have you considered that maybe, just maybe I want to be broken?"

"You stink." I said abruptly. "And it's because you're sweating, don't start with me."

He snickered. "I'm descented. I swear on my mum."

"How's Poole?"

"Ah…" He picked up a rag and wiped his face. "He could be better. Poor guy almost went down of heat stroke. He's in the next room. A couple of these boys tried to get him in some cold water to lower his body temp. I guess it's working, but he's gonna be resting for a while longer."

"Well, are you good to go?"

"If you are, sir!"

I went to go see Poole. He was in a tub of a sort in nothing but his shorts. The water was quite cold too, which means they were trying to get the temperature down as Geoffrey said. He said he was sorry for being a drag.

"You know… maybe I just couldn't beat the heat sir…" He said, weakly smiling.

"Stay here with these people. They'll take care of you. I trust them."

He agreed, and relaxed.

Geoffrey and I began the next phase of our mission – find Van der Beck, and find our people.

::END ENTRY::


	99. Entry 99: March 25th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date March 25th, 3235<br>Entry Made 1552 (3:52 PM)

Dear Journal,

1LT C. J. Vennettilli Reporting,

We moved out immediately after getting St. John out of there. He was practically suited up upon exiting one of the Wolf Clan's houses, rifle slung over his shoulder. When I turned to see him, he was clipping his rucksack's straps across his chest and was putting in earplugs.

"Is that going to be necessary?" I asked him, tapping the pocket where mine were.

"You tell me, mate." Geoffrey replied. "All I know is if the lead starts slinging, I wanna protect my precious ears, get me?"

"I don't think that we're going to be hurt."

Geoffrey laughed and pointed at a bandage that was visibly poking out of my shirt. "Don't need bullets to hurt you. How much did that polymer armor cost?"

"Too cheap." I told him. "Come on, we'll grab my armor."

Halfway to the Chief's house, Lupe met us, jogging at a respectable speed. "Lieutenant, St. John." She said in greeting. She didn't even seem tired. Across her shoulder was a type of crossbow. On her back was a… what's the word… it's the thing that actually holds the arrows. Quiver! Right, that was it. Lupe looked like she was ready to go to war. Something I was good at doing.

"Chief." I said.

"You can call me by my name, Lieutenant. We work better in an informal atmosphere."

"Sorry. Just a habit. Forgive me, it reinforces the hierarchy."

"We were just going to pick up his armor." St. John said.

"Well please, allow me to join you." Lupe said. "I can tell you more about the people who took your tribe speaker."

Ah, a briefing! Excellent. This will allow us to gain Intel on our enemy, and will possibly reveal some tactical weakness that we can exploit. Although I can't think of very many things that it would take to exploit a band-level civilization of semi-nomads, especially with military grade weaponry.

And that arrow was _STILL_ a slice of dumb fucking luck! No! I'm not letting it go!

Within minutes we were able to get back to the house I was kept in. Someone must have come by and placed the medical equipment away. That meant that people were allowed into other people's houses at will. Talk about trustworthy neighbors. Maybe they slip a key under the mat. I found my armor and helmet stacked in a corner with the helmet placed neatly in front of it. I found my cap and slipped it on my head. I then took my helmet, checked the interior to see if it was damaged in any way. I was satisfied with it and slipped it on my head. In hostile territory, it was typically advised to wear your helmet at all times. However, servicemen sometimes disregard this in hot environments or in secure areas. As for me, I didn't want to catch an arrow in the chapeau. I checked the HUD to make sure it synched up. I got the rotating circle to show the systems were getting started. Then it booted up, showing me a crosshair, heartbeat, and ammunition count in my weapon, which was a neat twenty rounds.

"Nice bucket, mate." Geoffrey said pointing out my helmet. "It come with a cup holder?"

"Only the A2 model." I joked back. St. John smiled.

"Can I ask you something?"

"What?" I had told him.

"If you got those fancy gizmos on your helmet, and guns and all that, why do you still have sights on your weapons?"

I saw what he meant. My MA-5 had ironsights fastened on it. "HUD doesn't always work all the time. The crosshair lets me know generally where the bullet goes, but sometimes the best things always need a solid backup. I also just instinctively use them. Machines break – people don't."

"Fancy." St. John simply said. "I suppose I can get behind that."

"Give me a quick once-over." I told him. Geoffrey checked to see if my armor was alright.

"You've got a dent three inches down your back."

"Oh that. I deflected a round a while back. That's fine."

"That's a big dent."

"It was a big bullet." I told him. "I was still feeling it though. Other than that?"

He glanced at my arm bracers and my shin guards. He nodded in approval and slapped me on the shoulder. "Looks like everything checks out. You are fighting fit."

Lupe watched us in curiosity. According to her accounts, she had contact with Knothole before, but we must have been something new to her. I was joking with St. John over my armor. We were meticulous and working by the book, which was something that she probably didn't usually do. She was laid back and very informal. I know that it's sometimes common in the Navy and even in Special Forces units. Kind of like ours actually. OMEGA.

I checked my magazine. It was a force of habit, and I didn't always have a HUD turned on. The magazine was still plenty full. I could tell by the weight alone. I slapped it back in and clicked on the safety. "Want me to take point? Be the leader?" I suggested, simplifying the military jargon for Lupe.

Her ear twitched in curiosity. "That will not be necessary Lieutenant. Please follow me though. Keep up though, if you can." She smiled as if challenging me.

"Could lose a few pounds and get the blood flowing." I said. "Lead the way."

She bolted. She was faster than any runner I saw.

"Wow."

"Tough mom." St. John agreed. "Come on, Lieutenant. Last one there's buying the first round."

"I don't drink St. John, but I'll kick your ass for free!"

It was good to have a friendly banter, but I was getting close to breaking one of the rules instilled by my old DI, Remus "The Unholy One" Stacker: don't make friends. I'd already broken it several times before, and I was dreading the outcome.

I was used to jungle air by this point in time, so a little humidity wouldn't kill me. I jumped over roots, sprinted between trunks, and vaulted over fallen trees. Birds called in the distance, and more than once I thought that I saw glowing eyes staring at me from the shadows of the jungles.

"So, you know who took our man?" I asked Lupe, who was bounding ahead at a quicker pace than us.

"I have an idea." She said as she slowed to a light jog. "There's a rival clan of horrible creatures that have been threatening us for quite some time."

"Horrible creatures?" St. John asked.

"You do not know these creatures, Marine." She turned to Geoffrey. "You on the other hand, you might. Have you ever heard of creatures my people call '_Ornnokohom_'?"

Geoffrey shook his head.

"Then in your tongue, you might call them 'Harpies''.

The second time he got it. He bobbed his eyebrows and stared at the ground. He covered his mouth with his hand for a second. "Yeah, I know them."

"What are they?" I asked the Secret Service agent, curious, and frankly disturbed about what I was about to hear.

"You've heard about the stories of the Lost Million, right?" St. John asked me.

"Yeah, I've heard the story."

He nodded. "Good. It saves me a load of time, and will possibly prevent me of possibly offending a religion." He glanced to Lupe, who nodded as a sign to go ahead. "Well, when our ancestors got uplifted at the very beginning, we got a bunch of DNA, right? That turned out fine and dandy for the most part. But, things got bad when it came to birds."

"What happened?" I asked, getting a bit more disturbed.

"Well, let me put it this way: my body, and your body, we've got instructions that make us biped, walking on heels, five fingered individuals, right? Now, we're both mammals. We're all mammals." He indicated Lupe, who nodded.

"So what went wrong?"

He bit his lip, as if hesitant to say. "What happens when you give a non-mammal instructions to become a mammal?"

Something creaked in the jungle. I raised my gun, finger off the trigger. My heartrate spiked. I really felt like I was back on Talahan.

"So… things went wrong."

"Wrong is an understatement, mate. It was _unnatural_. 90% of all Avian Mobians suffer from it – Medical term is something long and convoluted, but to the rest of us? Harpy Syndroms."

I told him that I have never seen one of these… Harpies. I was told that the avians I had seen were the 10% that successfully mutated, somehow finding a genetic safeguard or loophole in the mix. As if Mobian genetics was bad enough for scientists to understand, the people that beat the odds were probably enough to cause even the most hardened geneticist to go on a week-long drinking binge.

"Christ, I got chills. Let's keep moving." I said. Staying still in a jungle for too long was a death sentence for most soldiers. I didn't want to be on the end of that list. "Geoffrey, can these things fly?"

"Thankfully no. Bone density's too high for that. They can jump though."

"Oh God. Alright." I reached into my backpack and grabbed some utility tape. I grabbed another magazine and taped it to the one in the receiver. "They taught us this in the army." I joked. I would get my head knocked off if I ever said that to a Marine though. Just a joke. I hate bugs that jump, let alone birdmen.

With an extra bit of twitch in my eye, I said, "Let's do this."

"You Humans seem jumpier in person than in the movies…" St. John said.

Harpies, based on what I was able to gather from Lupe, are extremely xenophobic towards anybody that is not a Harpy. The reasoning for this may be a direct result from the hundreds of years of social stigmatization and isolation. Unlike Avian Mobians that were able to successfully take their mutations well, Harpies suffered an incomplete change. The Human DNA did not mesh well with the DNA that they already had. Instead of simply rejecting the DNA, their bodies took it and did the best they could, producing the beings that I am about to meet. Beak-like noses, mixed in there, sparse feathers, recessed, slit eyes, and the familiar leg structure makes these people a nightmare come true.

According to Lupe, they are cannibals too. While I cannot confirm this, I'm not taking my finger off the trigger guard. Until we get our ambassador back, I'm going to be extra cautious. ROE is Fire if Fired Upon, but I'm going to be extra careful. Oh, and on the matter of Van der Beck before I forget. Turns out, my radio was busted due to someone handling my armor incorrectly. Someone decided to pry it open and see how it works. So I have no radio. Beautiful.

Geoffrey on the other hand did have a pack and was able to get in touch with Overlord. He was indeed surprised to hear that we were split up and had encountered the Wolf Clan. I asked for his earpiece.

"Overlord, please advise our situation."

"_Omega Actual, Overlord copies. Can you confirm that you have been in contact with the chief of the Wolf Clan?_"

"She's standing right next to me." I answered him.

"_Acknowledged, Actual. Stand by for information._" A second later, he came back_ "Actual, attempts to raise Lieutenant Van der Beck are unsuccessful._"

"Interrogative, why have you been unable to reach him?"

"_Actual, transponders indicate that he has gone underground. Radios cannot penetrate that far._"

"Say again, Overlord, did you say all of them?"

"_Affirmative._"

I turned to Lupe. "Are there any caves in the area?"

"Plenty." She said.

That moron Van der Beck…

"Overlord, they are likely in some form of cave system."

"_Acknowleged, Omega Actual. Be advised, TEAMCOM is down. Recommend you maintain position and wait for signal reconnection_."

"Negative, Overlord. We have positive location of VIP, and we're not sure how much time he has. Situation developing. Do you have eyes on us?"

"_Solid copy, Actual_."

"Let us know when connection is back up and maintain that visual for us. We're moving now. Omega Actual Out."

::End Entry::


	100. Entry 100: March 26th, 3235

**Entry Number 100 of the Journals of Sally Acorn! This is an incredible milestone for me! I have never written any story with this many chapters before! Here's to the next hundred, which I know will be coming! Thank you to everyone that kept on reading this! Comments are always appreciated! We still have a long journey ahead of us! Strap in and get ready for the next leg! **

**-C.**

* * *

><p>Journal of Sally Acorn<br>Date: March 26th, 3235  
>Entry Made 0023 hours<p>

Dear Journal,

1LT C. J. Vennettilli Reporing,

Going into a battle is something that nobody should ever take lightly. Our first days on Talahan was the time that we realized that there was a good chance that we would be dying on that God forsaken septic tank of a planet. A lot of us did. True, some of us were badass enough to walk out of that jungle with a bunch of rebel teeth around our necks, but there are a lot of graves back on that rock. Some of them filled with people I would rather prefer be alive.

Yup. A lot of people.

See, when I have moments I have to think of the Rules. Number 12: '_Nothing is forever; don't dwell on it_'.

Sometimes… sometimes I wonder how things would have turned out if I never ended up in this outfit. Sometimes I think that things would have gone for the better. I have a good education, I would have gotten a good secure job with a respectable salary, but I would have missed out on what I think is the most amazing adventure of my life.

So was it worth the killing and losing some of my best friends?

There's no way I think I'm going to confidently answer that.

Sorry, I tend to ramble a little bit. We called it the Jungle Jumps. It's weird: this place feels like home and like hell at the same time.

So, the three of us against an entire clan of cannibalistic bird people. Not my favorite odds in the world, but then again, two of us were armed with automatic weapons and the third with bows and arrows. If I conserve my ammunition, I can probably last a while. I usually carry seven magazines of ammunition, maybe a bit more if the situation calls for it. Doing the quick math, that's 140 rounds of primary ammunition, and a further seven mags worth of secondary ammunition, which s another 64 rounds, bringing the total at 204. I have to assume that St. John had a similar amount.

My legs were burning from the constant running. I swear I pulled a hamstring somewhere around there. It all seemed to amuse Lupe, who was keeping a steady pace, glancing back at us every now and again.

"Step quickly, Warriors!" Lupe said. "My father always said that dry leaves burned out fast."

"The hell does that mean?" I asked St. John, who vaulted over a fallen tree.

"Something probably lost in the translation, mate."

I asked how he was doing.

"Well, I'm still alive! Don't know if that means much though!"

Lupe suddenly stopped up ahead. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"We're here." She announced. There's a cliff up ahead. The _Ornnokohom_ like to make their nests in the rocks.

There was a drop off up ahead. We were looking over a hanging valley with a waterfall on the other end. The sun was starting to set in the sky, yet there was still plenty of blue. Out towards the south, a large cloud formation looked rather angry, as if a storm was rolling. A fork of lightning leapt out and struck the earth silently.

"Damn. Wouldn't want to be fighting in that." I said.

"I thought you said we were giving peace a chance." Geoffrey said looking over at me.

"Of course." I responded. "But still…" I added, more to myself than to the others. I decided to keep looking around the valley. Trees of many types covered the face of the opposite wall, the top of the valley, the floor of the valley, all over the place. Funny enough, I never cared enough to learn more across the trees since a lot of these are the same species. There were some bare faces of rock, but even those had a nice shade of green. This entire continent was green.

Then I saw something else – holes in the rock. Tunnels I mean.

That's when I tapped my earpiece, "Overlord, Omega Actual."

"_Omega Actual, Overlord copies. What's the problem_?"

"Overlord, I need a confirmation on the location of Van der Beck and his team."

"_Solid copy, Actual. Be advised, we are still not able to get in contact with Insertion Element_."

"You said they were likely in a cave system?"

"_Affirmative._"

"Stand by, Overlord."

I looked at Lupe. "You said that these people make their homes in caves?"

She gave me a silent nod. My legs started to tingle.

"Overlord, Omega Actual. Insertion Element is likely in danger. Possible hostiles may be attempting to box in UNSC forces in close quarters. Requesting permission to change ROE to fire at will."

"Wait, what?" St. John said, caught by surprise. "I thought we were going to try to talk!"

I was about to say something about how if Van der Beck was in danger, all bets were already off. I was about to tell St. John that I didn't like this either, but my gut was telling me that things were very, very wrong. It was about to get worse. I heard what sounded like very light rumbling. Almost like thunder. But that storm was too far away. It was too regular... too staccato.

"You hear that?" St. John asked me. His face seemed grim. His ears twitched in response to the noises.

"I hope that's not…" I said.

"I think it is." Geoffrey responded.

"What?" Lupe asked, probably not familiar with the noise.

"It's gunfire." I explained. I tapped my borrowed earpiece again. "Overlord, Omega Actual! Insertion Element is under attack!"

"_Overlord here, we don't have COMs back yet. Can you confirm this_?"

"I can hear gunfire! Sounds like the whole platoon is engaged. Possible enemy combatants. Unknown strength at this point! Requesting permission to engage!"

"_Um, alright Actual. Make your way there. Uh, wait one…_"

"Let's go!" I said to the others.

"Lieutenant! Follow me!" Lupe advised. She pointed out a way for us to get to an outcropping below us. A natural incline hugged the face of the cliff. It was clearly worn by centuries of being used by the Harpies. Relatively deep scratches were on the rock face, which were probably claw marks. I like to drum my fingers on the side of my weapon when I'm nervous. Doesn't help much, but it's just something I do. Lupe led the way with a bow drawn and an arrow nocked in the drawstring. She had her teeth bared and was audibly growling. She must have really _hated_ these guys to want to do this. Geoffrey and I followed with our guns drawn, but with the safeties on. We had no idea what we were getting into yet. I was silently dreading seeing these Harpies for the first time.

"She looks mad." Geoffrey noted.

"Good thing she's not hunting us."

Lupe ran down the incline quickly and quietly. We were nearly out of breath running through the jungle for so long, but we pressed on. I hoped that one of my legs wouldn't cramp up. Compromised mobility was something that I hoped I wouldn't suffer from on this mission. Back in the jungle, a slow Marine was an easy target. There was actually a part of me that wondered if my experience would be of any use. I mean, would my tactics and training be invalidated by these Harpies?

Well, the easy answer to that would be 'Just wait and see'. I needed to be on top of my game.

We came to the bottom of the incline, but we were still on the ridge hanging above the valley below. I got a better look at the waterfall that was cascading over the rocks and into the green depths below. It was hauntingly calming.

Then the whine of a ricochet shattered that peace. My gun was up to my shoulder, and I sighted down. I tapped St. John's borrowed earpiece and spoke into it. "Van der Beck, are you there?"

There was a crackling response over the channel dotted with white noise and the regular gunshot. I couldn't make out any of the words. I thought I was hearing _somebody_ that was speaking English, but I couldn't tell.

"Lieutenant, if you can hear us, we are outside the cave where you are. Hang tight. We're inbound."

"Think he heard us?" St. John asked.

"I can't say." I said honestly. "Lupe, where should we go?"

Her ears twitched in thought. "I have been in some of these caves before. Enter. They will have little room to move. They should be easy enough to hit."

"So I guess talking is out of the question." St. John said under his breath.

"It's out of our hands Geoffrey." I said apologetically. "But that's what we're paid for." I clicked off the safety on the rifle. It was go time.

_Lock and Rock_. That was what they said back on Talahan.

The radio cracked, "_Omega Actual, Overlord._"

"Omega here. Go Overlord."

"_Actual, you are cleared to engage hostile forces at your discretion. Please acknowledge_."

"Acknowledged Overlord. We are now in partial communication with Insertion Element. We're ready to move in."

"_Copy that Actual. Report in once you've located Insertion Element. Primary objective still stands: retrieve the Ambassador or discover what's happened to him. Be advised, once you head into those caves, we will not have eyes-on. Good hunting Actual. Overlord out._"

Our advisor's voice winked out. I glanced up at the heavens for a moment to try to pick out where the _Indomitable_ was orbiting over our heads. They may have been in geosynch orbit to keep an eye on us.

"Are you ready to go in?" Lupe asked.

"Let's go." I said without hesitation. Lupe entered the cave first, bow up. I looked at St. John and nodded. It was this solemn movement that spoke so much. A simple gesture like that says 'I know that we could buy it here and now, but I'm ready to go if you are'. Geoffrey nodded back to me. We were ready to take the risk. We folded in, eyeing down the darkness. Geoffrey could probably see better than I could. He told me it was clear. The gunshots were louder now, carried by the narrow walls of the cave. There seemed to be only one way in and out.

I ignored the burning in my legs. I needed to double-time it. If I didn't, Marines would probably die on me, and it would be on me. If my luck was bad, we may have already lost someone.

By the time I got deep in the cave my breath came ragged. I had almost certainly pulled a muscle. It hurt, but I fought through it. The cave finally opened into a cavern. I damned the fact that I didn't bring night vision with me. I had a flashlight on my MA-5, so I clicked that on once the light got scarce. We actually came to a cavern that seemed like it was too big to have been beneath our feet the whole time. Stalagmites dripped from the ceiling that may have been as long as I was. A hole in the cave wall showed sunlight, and a small waterfall dropped in the center of the cavern from an underground river. I've learned to perform these analyses very quickly thanks to the war. If there was something I could use to my advantage, I would try to locate it. Every outcropping, every rock, and every stalactite was potential cover.

The gunfire broke the spell and I was starting to look for targets. I saw the flashes of the Marines on the other end of the cavern.

That's when I saw the Harpies. My idealized look of Mobians was destroyed the minute I laid eyes on them. They were horrifying, and I only saw the back of them at first. They were hunched over. They were taller than I was, and their backs were covered with a mixed ruffled mass of feathers and wrinkled skin. One had its arms up. They were a horrifying cross between a wing and a hand with feathers growing in a narrow line along the arm, with three clawed fingers and a hooked thumb wrapping around its palm.

I nearly dropped my gun in sheer terror.

"By Aurora…" Geoffrey breathed. He had never seen these things before.

Lupe fired her bow at the nearest Harpy she could find. The arrow zinged through the air and struck the Harpy in the left shoulder blade. I wasn't sure if she was aiming for its heart or not, but he certainly felt it. It hissed in pain and whipped around to see what hit him. It was perhaps the ugliest thing I had ever seen, and coming from someone who crawled over Talahan, fought alongside Elites and Unggoy, _that _my friends is saying something.

Its head was shaped less like a ball and more like an elongated spheroid. It had a beak, but it was not graceful. It was long, curved, and jagged, chipped in more than one place. Unless I was imagining, it had teeth in its beak, making a horrifying combination of mammal and bird. I didn't see its eyes and I wasn't looking forward to it. It spotted us and made a sound that was a mix of a crow and a scream. It was calling for help. It was cut short as its head snapped to one side, spraying blood over the rock. One of the Marines managed to shoot it. The grotesque and malformed body tumbled to the ground.

I hit the radio. "Lieutenant Van der Beck! Can you hear me?"

"_You picked a wonderful fucking time to finally show your face!_"

Yup. We were back in contact.

"What is your status?"

"_Bale took an arrow to the leg about five minutes ago, but we managed to stop the bleeding! Fuck!_"

I heard a loud gunshot. Another Harpy cried out in pain as it died.

"_I'm fine_." I heard Bale say. "_Biofoam sealed it up. I can walk fine_."

I fired a burst at a particularly large harpy, whose bulging freakish muscles were visible even at this distance. The first burst went a bit wide and got its attention. The second burst caught it in the right abdomen. It fell over but was still crawling.

"IT'S WOUNDED!" I cried.

A single shot from St. John's rifle made it stop. "I got it! FUCK!" Geoffrey said clearly showing the apprehension to shoot another living creature. I know this because it was the exact same reaction I made to shooting my first rebel… though I didn't feel the effects until well after.

"Lieutenant! Left side!" I cried into the radio. Van der Beck pivoted and fired five shots into the chest of a Harpy armed with some sort of knife. It didn't drop at first, but the Lieutenant punched it in the face with a left hook. It crumpled.

Lupe fired another arrow. It hit dead center in the back of a Harpy who fell flat on his face. She looked positively furious with these warriors.

"_Vennettilli! Watch your flank! It's coming for you!_"

I saw the bastard too late. It was already moving fast running on its claws, too fast for me to track. Then it jumped. I mean, I was warned they would jump… but… it jumped. Its legs acted like a springboard as it changed its forward momentum into vertical force, easily leaping about 20 feet into the air… more than high enough to reach me.

It came at me like a feathery meteor with its claws pointed right at me. Conditioned Awareness kicked in. I pulled my gun up and fired four rounds. Only one hit it in its left leg. It did nothing to slow it down. I dropped the gun and held up my wrist armor to try and absorb some of it.

I was knocked to the ground. That's when I saw its eyes. They were bloodshot, wide, and double-lidded. Its eyes were bright tawny. It looked very Human-like, which disturbed me. It was shouting something I couldn't understand, sounding like a very loud creaking door.

I shouted for help.

It was about to tear my arm off before Lupe fired an arrow straight into its forehead. Amazingly, this did not kill it, but it jittered. I grabbed my knife from its sheathe and plunged it into its neck then I finished with kicking it off me. Now it was dead.

There was silence. I thought I slipped back into tacypsyke, but I heard the hard breathing of St. John and Lupe. The battle was over. We won. Total elapsed firefight time? Three minutes, eighteen seconds. It flies incredibly quickly.

St. John gave me his hand and helped me up. "Come on, mate. Up you get."

I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me. I gave the corpse of my attacker a quick kick.

"Hey, easy! He's dead, alright? We've already done enough!" St. John said angrily. Lupe though gave me an approving nod. I realized that my actions were starting to get different results from those around me. I had to be careful. Pissing off St. John might not make me any friends in the Secret Service.

"How are you, man?"

"Got pegged by one of those things' slings. Hit me upside the head."

I then realized that a part of his head was bleeding close to his ear. "Are you OK?"

"I'll be fine, really."

I asked Lupe the same question. She was unharmed.

"Good work everyone." I told them.

"CLEAR!" I heard from across the cavern.

A second "CLEAR!" Accompanied it. Van der Beck's guys were combing through the Harpies.

"Yeah, they're all dead." St. John said with a groan.

I reloaded my weapon and clicked the safety. I was down two mags during the fight. It wasn't bad, but I had to be careful with my equipment. Slinging my weapon across my back, I went to go meet Van der Beck.

"Where the fuck were you?!" was the first thing he said when he saw me. "We were supposed to stay in formation!"

"Things got messed up, dude. We got isolated, and well, we accomplished a secondary objective."

"I don't give a damn if Jesus Christ came back to vouch for you Himself! You were given an order, and you disobeyed it!"

"Chief, can you please talk some sense into this man?" I asked Lupe. She realized an idiot when she saw one.

"Marine, I am Lupe, Chief of the Wolf Clan. I am a friend of this man. You were to speak to us beforehand."

Van der Beck steadied himself quickly upon hearing this. "Right… uh, right. They mentioned you in the briefing. Wait a second." He looked around. "Where the hell is Poole?"

"He's fine." I assured him. "He's taking a nap."

"I'll assume that's not a euphemism, kid." He took a deep breath and calmed down. "Did you find the negotiator?"

"No." Vicci said. "We've been in these caves for hours." They wind all over the place."

"Then we've better get a plan together." St. John deduced. "According to Lupe, these buggers make their nests in here. We look around, we're likely to find him. We've better get moving too. Gunshots carry in cave systems."

Despite being a jerk, I was happy to see Van der Beck again. We had a team once more, and the more Marines you have, the more damage you can cause. Rule number 28.

::END ENTRY::


	101. Entry 101: March 27th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: March 27th, 3235<br>Entry Made 1440 (2:40 PM)

Dear Journal

1LT C. J. Vennettilli Reporting,

I've had a bit of time to try and relax following our successful extraction from the area. Things turned out better than I expected, but at the same time I was hoping that things could have gone better. I think we failed and succeeded at our mission at the same time. I'm not sure which. Naturally I'm inclined to believe the latter, but I'm not sure.

After the encounter with the Harpies in the cave and the subsequent hookup with Lieutenant Van der Beck, I myself was a little bit shaken up. A close up tango with one of those things isn't something that I'll be likely to forget. They're scary creatures, especially with the eyes. It contrasts everything that the creatures seem to represent, and that's a failed Mobian evolution. Cleaning up after that wave in the cave antechamber was a bit difficult, but walking away from it gave me a sense of figuring out just how these guys operated. They were wild. There were no real unit tactics. They didn't use general strategy, choosing to use brute force and feral charges to try and demoralize their enemies before stabbing them with spears, or if I'm right, mauling targets with their beaks. They had speed and the ability to jump fairly high, so I suppose there was some effectiveness to it. I'll tell you something, a bird man charging at you at nearly forty miles an hour is scary no matter which way you look at it.

I was able to get to my feet and fold back into our newly reunited group, with Lupe joining our team. He was also a little bit affected by having to kill some of the _ornnokohom. _It was familiar to me. I had to make hard decisions when I had to fire on rebels during the Talahase Conflict, but I would never rope together the rebels and the Harpies together in the same mindset. The Harpies are hilariously underadvanced, do not have any form of understandable or visible spoken language, lack reasoning skills, and are just all-around xenophobic. According to Lupe, what we were doing was a favor to the world at large. I don't think I believe that either. If someone points a weapon at me, I'll point back. At best, what we're doing is basic self-defense. We are operating under the Rules of Engagement. If they want to negotiate, we will too, and vice versa.

The cave ahead started to group into a small passage. I believe that this was the way Van der Beck came from. That's when I noticed that there was a passage that seemed to descend deeper into the earth.

"We saw this when we were coming through the area." The Lieutenant told me. "Though we were being chased by the buzzards before we had a chance, and with light coming from the area up there, we thought that getting topside was a bit more important."

"Wise." Lupe responded. "Fighting in a cave is extremely dangerous. I have known warriors that have become lost or trapped in caves like these. Perhaps maybe in this very cave."

That sent a child down my spine. Thinking about being lost in a cave system until we starved to death or suffered a mishap with a cliff or a cave in was not a comforting thing to ponder. "We should keep moving down into that passage."

"Why?" Vicci asked.

"Because it's the only place in this cave that we haven't explored. Gallardi might be down there."

"And what evidence do you have to support this?" Van der Beck said. "Maybe your friend told you?"

"As a matter of fact, warrior," Lupe started, bearing her teeth slightly. She did not like Van der Beck at all. "I can vouch for the Marine's guess. The _ornnokohom_ make their nests deep in the rock. Their nests will be below us certainly."

"So, are you going to trust a native, _pops_?" I added to salt the wound a little. I enjoyed Van der Beck's brow furrowing. Perhaps he wished he was back in Northamer right about now.

"Alright. Let's go. Why don't you take point _junior_." He indicated me.

"Sure thing _old man_." I clicked off my safety and started down the passageway. Lupe decided to stay up front with me, likely because she could see some things that I could not in the darkness. She had her bow at the ready with an arrow already nocked, but it was loose. She wouldn't have to do anything that she didn't have to.

"Have you ever been down here before?"

"Yes." She said simply.

"So you know where we're headed then." Sinclair reasoned.

"Within reason, Warrior." She responded solemnly, then did not say any more on the subject.

For about fifteen minutes we descended through a snaking tunnel. A long time ago, this was likely some form of a natural drainage tunnel that water coursed through to get to ground level. We all had our flashlights combing over the walls and even the ground. Water flowed through this ancient tunnel even today. Lupe seemed to be dealing with it the best despite her feet only being covered by the most basic footwear. Mashtar slipped on the wet rock and grabbed a stalagmite to stop himself from falling down the incline. His gun dropped from his hands and slid a ways before Sinclair stopped it with his foot.

"You OK?" Sinclair asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Oh crap, my ankle hurts."

"Better not be broken." Van der Beck said threateningly. "Otherwise you're going back topside."

"No. No, sir. I'm fine." He groaned though and tried to steady himself. Sinclair picked up the rifle and handed it back to his friend.

"Be careful man. A fall like that and more than your ankle's gonna hurt."

I shook my head. More people hurt, and more potential targets for the Harpies. Things were going bad already and we had no idea if Gallardi was still alive.

We continued for another seven minutes. After that, the passage seemed to level out, and the water gathered on the ground becoming a small cave river.

"Be mindful of your steps." The warrior advised us quietly. "The _ornnokohom_ can hear the ripples. They may pounce on us."

"Hand signals from here on out." Van der Beck ordered. It was something I could agree with. I gave a simple advance order- four fingers forward, thumb tucked in and pointed forward. We moved with surprising silence. Lupe more so. She had been in these caverns before, so she probably knew the best ways to stay quiet.

The water shifted, and I heard something. Clenched fist, head height – the freeze command. Everyone behind me stopped and took a knee, weapons pointed forward at a bend in the tunnel. There was noise coming from up ahead. If there was a Harpy up there, we wouldn't be able to get by it quietly. Well, not us anyway. I looked at Lupe and ensured I had eye contact. I jerked my head in the direction of the bend. She seemed to understand and gripped her bow tighter. The chieftain kept to the walls of the tunnel, ensuring that there was enough of a slope to get out of the water. Around the point where the tunnel started to turn, she pulled the arrow back in its curve, stepped around the corner, and let it fly. There was a meaty _shunk_, and then silence. She waved us forward. The way was clear.

I ordered the men to stay low, a simple flat hand fanning downwards. I glanced back to Van der Beck. Apparently, he didn't seem all that happy that I didn't get an arrow in my ass yet. I don't want to say that it was illegal putting another Marine purposefully in the line of fire. I mean, that's what we got paid for after all.

St. John let a whisper escape his lips. "Fish?"

"Shh!" Sinclair hissed.

He shut up, but I looked down and saw many tiny creatures circling around my boots in the water. If there was fish up ahead, then there had to be a large enough body of water to support them. We followed around the corner, noticing the corpse of an _ornnokohom_ slumped against the wall. Lupe had retrieved her arrow from the Harpy and had reinserted it back into her quiver. From there, the cavern opened up, and our jaws dropped.

"Wow." Van der Beck said in awe.

It was huge. Easily a couple hundred feet at its widest point. A single massive hole in the roof let sunlight filter into the underground area. Massive stalactites dropped from the ceiling, some of them almost touching the surface of the water. In the water, primitive reed boats were floating along, most of them without pilots guiding them along, and numerous fishing nets were draped over the sides of their hulls. A natural ledge formed along most of the cave walls that would allow us to circumnavigate the huge chamber. In the distance, I noticed torches lighting the walls.

"We have returned their nest." Lupe said in disgust.

"Returned?" Vicci asked.

"This is where I found my husband." She said angrily.

Suddenly a sick sense formed in the pit of my stomach. Things looked bad, extremely bad. I tried to call command. The hole in the ceiling would let a transmission through. Thankfully, I did get through to Overlord.

"_What's your situation,Omega Actual_?"

"We've stumbled across what looks like an enemy staging area, possibly a nest of some sort."

"_Say again, Actual, you said a 'nest'_?"

"Repeat, a nest, please acknowledge." I said rolling my eyes slightly.

"_Acknowledged. A nest it is. Any confirmation so far on the status of representative Gallardi_?"

"Negative, Overlord. However, we're not hopeful."

"_Explain_."

I paced along the side of the wall where we were. The others had their weapons up, carefully making sure that we were not being watched. Lupe watched me with intent. She still may have not been comfortable with our radios. We appeared as if we were talking to ourselves.

"According to our contact, the Harpies are not known for taking captives alive."

There was silence over the COM, but then Overlord came back.

"_Stand by._"

Silence again. I looked at Lupe.

"I hope I'm wrong." She told us. "Failure is one of the tastes most bitter upon the tongue."

"_Actual, proceed with caution. Positive identification of Representative Gallardi is still paramount. You do not extract until you have located and confirmed the ID of the Rep, dead or alive. Please acknowledge._"

I took a few seconds to think about that before I responded. "Acknowledged Overlord. I confirm." I turned to the men and said, "We keep going. This cavern's got to end at some point."

"Those lights up ahead, Human." Lupe pointed out. "Those would be where the _ornnokohom_ would be. That's where the nests are."

Thankfully the cavern ate up most of the sound, but we stayed quiet anyway. Van der Beck insisted that I keep point. I think deep down he wanted me to take another arrow in the ass. I would work to disappoint in that case.

Vicci nearly slipped on the wet rock. He stifled a curse before it left his mouth. I bit my lip hoping that he didn't fall in. Mashtar steadied him though before we could do anything about it. Van der Beck asked if he was OK. Vicci nodded but winced a little bit.

For a few long minutes we crept along the edge of the water, carefully glancing below us to makes sure that nobody was out for a pleasure cruise along the lake. Nothing came out to greet us, which gave me two possibilities: either we had killed a good portion of the Harpies before we got down to this cavern, or they were all bunched up in their nest. The latter disturbed me.

Slower and slower we got closer to the lit torches. I'm sure that we were all wondering if we were going to be getting a bit of a surprise. I think many of us were thinking that there was going to be an ambush waiting for us. To make a long story short, there wasn't an ambush waiting for us, but the area wasn't empty. The instant we entered the nest area, I held my breath. There were dozens of Harpies in another side cavern, but they were all sleeping. Many of them were up against the walls and some of them were lying down in what I assumed were the nests. Getting around them would not have been easy. There were bones littered all over the floor. Many of them seemed to be fish bones that were picked clean by the Harpies' beaks. However, some of them were larger, probably small mammals that frequented the area. However, there was one though that made me sick to my stomach. A long femur was placed on the ground. I tried to tell myself that it was one of the _ornnokohom_'s, but I knew just by looking at it beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was a Human femur, and it still had bits of meat on it.

I was going to be sick, but my sudden anger kept me moving. I crept over the bones, taking care not to disturb them. The other Marines, St. John, and Lupe followed suit. Geoffrey looked positively nauseated at the sight of all this, but at the same time, he gripped his gun even tighter. His original thought of the Harpies being more than a little shaken now. I don't know how we got past them without waking any of them up, but it's pretty clear that the nightmare was just beginning for us. There was a small area, some kind of holding cell. In it… well, was the Ambassador.

Gallardi was dead. That much was very clear to us. He was slumped against the wall, eyes rolled up into his head, and his body very much pale, but that was because of blood loss. My stomach turned as I noticed that he was missing a leg, not far below the hip. I became nauseated as I realized that the femur we saw back in the den belonged to him. Gallardi's suit was ragged and torn in several places. He had taken his own tie and had tried to use it as some sort of crude tourniquet on his leg, but it was clear the bleeding had been far too severe and he passed out. The bastards did this to him when he was alive. I felt anger growing within me. They had tortured him. Killed him, _eaten part of him_!

Lupe noticed our anger and touched my shoulder and whispered, "Now you know what I felt."

"No." I whispered back. "We failed in our mission… this has nothing to do with your husband."

"But it does warrior. I lost more than him to the _ornnokohom_. They took many from us."

St. John asked, "What do we do now, sir?" He was clearly barely holding his temper. I could see it in his eyes. He had the same thought as me: mess every single one of these buzzards up. But we had a mission to accomplish.

"Someone grab Gallardi." I ordered.

"He's dead!" Van der Beck said a bit loudly. We glanced down the short corridor just in case. "Leave him!"

"We bring him back, dead or alive! That was the mission!" I fought back.

The Lieutenant walked up to me and stared down at me along his curved nose. "Our mission was to confirm whether he was alive or dead. We can move our asses now and be done with it! I am ordering you to leave his body, Marine!"

"Shut up!" Geoffrey hissed, glancing back at the den nervously. Some of the Harpies began to stir.

"Don't talk back to me you furry son of a bitch, move out!"

St. John shook his head, moving to get Gallardi's body. "Help me out, Lieutenant." He was addressing me. I walked with him to the Ambassador and grabbed him under his arms, noting his extremely pale skin. Geoffrey was uncomfortable picking him up from the leg, but we carried the man's body out of the room while the others cleared ahead.

As it happened, Van der Beck's talking did indeed wake up the Harpies, which we quickly put down as we moved through the living quarters. Single shots to the upper torso and they crumpled like card houses. I almost absent-mindedly wondered where the women and children were, but pushed it out of my thoughts as we made our way back to the cavern. Van der Beck radioed Overlord.

"I say again, Gallardi is dead." He was saying.

"_Acknowledged, Insertion Actual. Report your location_."

"Still inside the caves. We're going out the way we came in."

I tapped my borrowed COM and joined in. "Overlord, requesting pickup at the Wolf Clan settlement."

"_Say again Omega Actual, Wolf Settlement_?"

I took the COM set off and gave it to Lupe. "Just speak into this." I told her. "Tell them where to send help."

Lupe curiously held the COM set up to her ear and was fascinated by the fact that there was a voice inside of it. She told them the coordinates of the settlement through nearby geological features. Overlord seemed to get the picture as she handed me the COM and nodded her head. "They said they would send help."

The walk back was strangely uneventful. It was hauntingly silent as me and St. John held Gallardi's body. I was furious with myself. I told myself that maybe if we had been a bit quicker and maybe a bit more organized, we could have saved his life. I told myself that there was always a chance we all could have walked out of this alive… but looking back, was that a possibility at all?

So much unnecessary death. So many lost. This was never supposed to happen, and the fact that we had failed to rescue him stung me deeper than any bullet ever would. Geoffrey noticed my dismay. "Hey, there was nothing we could have done, mate. We did our best, you know that?"

"Did we?" was all I said back to him.

He looked as if he was going to say something, but thought better of it, choosing to remain silent for the rest of our journey. Lupe did not seem to look at me with sadness, but with respect. I had reasoned that returning the body of a dead comrade was a sign of respect to these people, and we were doing exactly what they would in such a situation.

Hours later when the sun was low in the sky, we had arrived back at the settlement. Several wolves had come to watch us return. Some of them never saw a glimpse of us before and watched us with wonder. Lupe barked something in her native tongue and they kept their distance. We saw that the dropship that the _Indomitable_ had sent was already landed, and the pilot was standing near the troop bay. He came to join us.

"Jesus, what the hell happened?" he asked Van der Beck, the senior-looking of us.

"It all went south." He said honestly. "We just didn't get there in time."

"I'll get a bag." He said, referring to the corpse. He shouted to his copilot and soon they had a black polyfabric bag that we set Gallardi's body into and fastened it up, and then we heaved it onto the troop bay deck. He was safe to go back home. I glanced at the other Wolves around us, checking their emotions. Many of them were curious. I spotted several children among them close to their parents. They were likely unsure what was going on or why we had placed that Human into the large bag. However, their parents looked at us the same way that Lupe did. They understood why we were doing what we were. One man I made eye contact with gave me an approving nod, which I returned.

I had also spotted Poole among the crowd, coming forth to meet us. He was dressed in his fatigues, minus his armor. He was quite confused about what was going on.

"What the hell happened?"

"Long story." St. John responded. "Feeling better Poole?"

"Yeah. Much better. The shaman said he wanted me to stay cool for a lot longer."

"Sounds good to me. Come on, onto the dropship."

While they got comfy, I stopped to chat one more time with Lupe, who was standing in Chieftain dress now. I said I was sorry for placing her in danger, which she brushed off. She told me that she was honored to fight alongside me, and that we were worthy friends. I realized that I was now performing Gallardi's job, but we were doing a much better job at it. Lupe said that should the need arise that we need help, she would provide it, and that future ambassadors would do well to be brought straight to this area. We had made new friends, and we would be honored to return at any time.

I saluted her. She took this graciously and bowed to me. It was a bridging of two cultures that had found common ground in their warrior nature. It was brought about humility within me. Once aboard, I watched as we rose into the air and started to move away. Children and adults alike pointed at the ship and were amazed that we were flying through the sky. A few seconds later, the hatch sealed. We were bound on a suborbital trajectory to minimize flight time back to Knothole.

St. John and I sat together on the flight. He and I were still beating each other up on the inside following Gallardi's recovery. We found ourselves staring down at the bodybag.

"Hey, listen Human." He said. "I know we really should have met and worked under different circumstances, but all things considered you guys handled yourselves well."

"So did you." I answered back simply, taking off my helmet and letting my head hit the headrest.

"It was my first trip down here too, and I think by the looks of things it may be my last. Harpies…"

"I know. That was scary."

"I'm sorry for overreacting earlier as well. I thought we had a shot at reasoning." He scratched his scalp and sighed. "Oh well, you can't always get what you want. I'm not going to sleep well for a couple nights."

"I'm sorry."

"I know." He responded. "I knew there was always a chance that I would have to pull the trigger some day, but damn it, I never thought it would be today."

"It never feels good. You hate yourself for the first little while, but then you start to get used to it."

He looked at me for a second and then to his rifle. He unloaded the weapon and clicked it on safe shaking his head. "That's what I'm afraid of. I protect, Lieutenant. I don't take life."

"That's what I used to tell myself every night for a year."

I glanced across the aisle. Mashtar, Vicci and Sinclair were chatting to one another half-asleep in their seats, but Van der Beck looked at me as if he wanted to throttle me. I'll never understand why he was acting like an utter buffoon, but the sooner I stepped off that transport, the better.

Jackass.

::END ENTRY::


	102. Entry 102: April 2nd, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn

April 2nd, 3235  
>Entry Made 1621 (4:21 PM)<p>

Dear Journal,

My head kills. No amount of hyperbole will ever come close to the fact... I think I may have a minor concussion. Miles almost certainly has a broken arm. Let me explain what happened, as I think chronicling this little adventure may help remind me that anything can really happen, and that whatever does happen can very likely kill me.

It all started about a week ago back on Mobius. After the Tears of Piety issue, I had chosen to take some time off back at home. It felt quite good to be in a place where I knew that nobody was really trying to kill me. Tears of Piety was... not a very good experience for me. I haven't seen that much... action I guess you can call it, in quite some time.

I've been quiet for the first couple of days. My parents are concerned and rightfully so. They asked what happened and why I was so quiet. So I did what came natural: I lied. I lied hard. When in actuality people were dropping like flies all around me or getting blown to smithereens by aliens, I said that we were on a long range recon operation that conducted routine fly-overs of the area, and once we determined that the Covenant did indeed have nukes and were connected to Robotnik, we flagged the operation and sent in commandos. Simple job. I attributed the silence to a side-effect of cryogenic suspension.

They believed it. Why wouldn't they? It was completely believable. I told the truth to nobody. Not Bunnie, not the Lieutenant, not Miles, nobody. Sonic and I... we're taking that planet and its memories to our grave with us. I think what I really appreciated after all of that time was to sleep in my own bed again. There was just something about a bed that you are familiar with. You know everything about it. You know how soft it is; you know how heavy the sheets are; you even know how many times you should fluff the pillow. I know Sonic was equally happy to be back, but ironically I thought of the Human. I thought of how he must have been sleeping on a very uncomfortable cot. I know how it feels but... it's something I've been thinking about. He told me about his journey to Southamer. I have to admit it sounds scary. I can't imagine how it must have felt for him to have to go into that jungle and GODDAMMIT!

FUCK!

My fucking head! It feels like it's tearing in two! I can barely keep attention!

He told me... he told me about the Harpies. I heard stories sure, but I never expected to actually hear about them in such detail. He told me about them, and how horrifying they were. I know that as a Mobian I should accept them as they are because we're a people of such varied genetic heritage, but he showed me videos from the helmet cameras, and... I forgot all about that on the spot. Especially what they did to the Ambassador.

But this? This blew it all away.

I received new orders while I was here. The UNSC Frontier Corps had located I believe the first ever extrasolar Chaos Emerald. I know some people may say that Thyris II may have one, but this is the first ever physically found. They wanted Me, Sonic, and Tails to be there to take a look at it since we were pretty knowledgeable about the subject. I think there was a sense of adventure that I was happy to feel. This was a mission of peace and science. Who would have thought, right? No weapons, no combat. We're heading to a ship called the UNSC _Currie_, a Frontier Corps ship. I've looked over some of the ship's history and schematics. It's tiny! Only 12 people serve on it and more than half are scientists. I liked the quaint feeling about it.

The trip took a further week to get us to the planet in question. It was an odd place to be sure. It didn't have a name. Not really; the official designation of the planet was TB-44110b, which orbited a star of the same name, _sans_ 'b' of course. It's ¾ the size of Mobius but it's plenty dense to give a comparable gravity of Mobius. The planet is habitable, but it's on an eccentric orbit, meaning that it goes above and below the plane of the system which can make the orbit quite long. The inhabitants of the planet like to call it 'Icicle' because of its long winters. It's warm sometimes, but when it's cold... it's cold, as in negative 100 degrees Celsius in some places. Some strange things wake up during that cold time period.

God dammit it's cold too...

This was never supposed to happen. We're still piecing it together.

We slipped into system aboard a ship called the _Othello_. I met the captain before we were underway, a woman named Commander Elaine Topaz. She carried herself well when I think of the other captains I had met in the past. She was taller than me by about half a head. Complimenting her neat and trim looking military uniform, she wore earrings that were made out of her eponymous stone. They were the most distinctive looking thing about her person. However, unlike some of the other Captains, but strangely like Commander Sobel, Topaz did not smile when I held out my hand. Instead, she chose to salute me as soon as I got on the ship. On reflex, her command staff followed suit.

"Highness, it is an honor and a privilege to have you aboard. We will do everything we can to make you comfortable." she had. I tried to tell her that it wasn't necessary and that I wanted to be treated like one of the crew, but she seemed rather intent on the opposite.

My cabin was one of the officer's that was given to me, Sonic and Miles who accompanied me. The cabin had multiple rooms in it such as a bathroom, lounging area, and even a small kitchen. I raised an eyebrow to see how the Navy took care of its officers. Outside of a small window was Mobius hanging in the darkness with the night staring to creep in. Around that time I wondered if it was really necessary that they pick us over any other qualified individuals for the job, but I realized that not many people before us would have had much experience with Chaos Emeralds. That made us the most qualified people in the galaxy potentially to pick up on this.

After a quick jump over through the Jumpgate, we immediately set a course to an outward system. The jump would take some time, but nowhere as far as our venture to Tears of Piety. I think we were aboard that ship maybe three or four days. The _Othello _had a very good Slipspace drive, so we covered a lot of distance in that time. Though I don't know the exact distance, only that we had gone hundreds of light years. We didn't have to get into Cryo either. Hmph, good for my modesty anyway.

I had some time to get to know the crew too. I had coffee once with Topaz on the bridge as we talked about her ship. She's a very knowledgeable woman, though she is quite short at times when presented with questions that she deems idiotic or without substance. Not that I ask idiotic questions of course.

What? No, doctor! I'm fine! I'm not talking to myself; it's just a journal. No I do not need a checkup! You're not even a medical doctor anyway!

But he's right... I really need to get this looked at. Aw Jesus it kills.

So... fast forwarding to the end of our jump. We arrived at TB-44110b just as scheduled, safe and sound. The _Othello _emerged from its Slip about half a million kilometers away from this pale blue dot. A bright young orange star lit up the sky and cast sunrays all the way out to where we were. The planet had a ring around it, which means it must have been hit a long time ago by something. Kind of reminds me about our moon back home. They say it will form a ring after a while. This planet looks a bit better off though. The _Othello _was running scans for some time. I was not on the bridge but Miles was. He knew what we were looking for better than me. So it wasn't a surprise when the intercom beeped he was the one on the other line.

"_Hey Aun... I mean, Sally. We found the ship that we're supposed to dock with._"

"So why tell me about it?" I asked him.

"_It's... very small. Too small for us to dock with directly. We're going to be taking a dropship over._"

That made sense. A dropship could count as a sort of shuttle to carry passengers over to another craft. I realized that this ship was only about a hundred meters or so in length. Ironically too small for it to have any sort of real airlock so we could cross-deck transfer. Instead, we had to take a Pelican over to the other craft. Sonic was not keen on going over to such a small place, feeling that he would be much too uncomfortable compared to the frigate we were on. The _Currie_ was 100 or so meters versus the Othello's 550. I don't get what he's complaining about though. Both ships are pretty much pressurized containers, so Sonic's point about more freedom was total BS!

Sorry... sorry. That's the pain talking, not me.

He can go home if he really wants to! Maybe he can go jump into Cryo for the rest of the trip! Mobius knows that I can use a little less whining and complaining! You know he hates space travel? Every second of it? He's done everything he can to take it off his mind. He invented a sport that involves jumping out of an airlock for _fun _for God's sake!

...Anyway...

I got a real surprise when we got to the _Othello_'s launch bay. There was indeed a Pelican dropship waiting for me and Tails, but what I didn't see coming was the pilot. She was a Mobian just like me, a rabbit. She saw me and her ears perked. A wide smile crossed her face and she walked up to me quickly.

"Oh wow. Oh wow! I never thought I'd meet you in person Highness!" She glanced at my shoulder rank though and snapped to. "Aah, Senior Airman Lola Stevens reporting for orders, Highness!" She saluted, arm raised and solid. She seemed barely younger than myself, yet I could see the excitement in her eyes.

I glanced at her flight suit, which was a one-piece coverall which was unzipped to halfway down her abdomen, a black T-shirt was visible with the words 'RAF' stitched on her left breast and 'STEVENS' on the right.

"You're in the Royal Air Force." I noted.

"Yes ma'am! I graduated Flight School out of Fort Frederick!"

I knew that airbase. It was a major aircraft routing station during the Great War. Scores of fightercraft went through that airport as well as cargo planes that airdropped supplies and vehicles to front-line infantry units. It was the place where the evacuation shuttles that carried me and my father after the city fell. It was where my mother and brother were supposed to land.

"Calm down Stevens!" another voice said. A man rounded the corner. He was Human. He stood tall, had a square jaw and small green eyes. A helmet was tucked under his arm and his face was impassive. "You'll have to forgive her. Girl's been jumpy ever since she got aboard."

"Sorry." she said curtly. "I'm in training to become a pilot for the UNSC."

"Yup. So she's flying with me to earn some hours in the field. RAF pilots need a sponsor to switch services, so she's stuck with me." He held out a hand. "Captain Austin Ferrel, and this is Gloria." He pointed towards the dropship. "My radio callsign is Jackdaw. Don't think you'll her it on this job though."

A third person emerged from the dropship, another Mobian. He was taller and somewhat lanky, yet a fair bit of muscle covered his arms. He saw me and carefully walked over. "Did I miss something, Captain?"

"Sure did, John. We're taking on a few passengers. I hope you don't mind."

"Oh, not at all. Not these people in any case." He made no real motion but introduced himself. "John Copper. Formally of the Royal Army, now with the UNSC. Lieutenant John Copper."

I was almost ecstatic to have this many countrymen working with me on this one. Not that I was uncomfortable about working with Humans of course.

We didn't mince many words. We boarded the dropship named Gloria and within seconds we were hurtling away from the_ Othello_. Sonic was somewhere behind us watching our tiny ship disappear into the perpetual night. The _Currie_, although only being a few kilometers away was not really visible until we got much closer to the planet. TB-44110b's rings were glittering in the sunrise. It must have been early morning under the band.

The ship was soon in view. It was small, but spindly, with four engines on the back lined with solar panels. It seemed a bit primitive compared to other Human ships, but it looked well built. It was a very practical vessel. It was also lined with heat shielding so that if the ship had to enter an atmosphere, it would be able to make a landing similar a plane. Of course... this was if it entered the atmosphere correctly.

The distance closed rather quickly. The _Currie_ was originally nothing but a silver speck in the sky, but it grew fast. I was up in the cockpit along with Ferell and Stevens. Copper was strapped into the back. I had a hand placed on a stanchion to keep myself from floating about in Zero-G, which was a bit easier said than done. Ferell guided Gloria over the hull of the science ship until he found the docking port waiting for us with blinking red lights.

"Watch and learn, Stevens." the Captain said as he tapped the controls. Gloria slowly and surely flipped over so that eventually, the _Currie_ was now above us, albeit upside down... but we were the ones that were upside down, right?

Sometimes space is confusing. Actually a lot of times it is confusing.

Ferell teased the dropship closer edging it towards the docking ring, and then we settled. The said the usual 'good job everyone' thing that pilots usually did as standard congratulations. A part of the floor in the troop bay slid aside and a hatch opened up. Copper was up and he had already tossed his bags through the hole. Ferell and Stevens started unclipping and I asked why. We were going to spend some time here so they got comfy.

Getting on this small science ship was easy enough. The first person I saw coming through the other side was a tall looking Human who wore the ship's cap placed on his neatly shaven head.

"Ethan Lancaster. Commanding Officer of this ship." He held out a hand.

"Sergeant Major Acorn. Sir." I said shaking it.

"I know who you are, Highness." Lancaster had said. "I would prefer doing things your way in this situation."

"If that's the case, no honorifics." I insisted. "They get grating after a while."

He smiled and nodded, then shifted his attention to Miles.

"Ah, you must be Miles Prower."

"Oh. Um, yeah I guess I am." Tails said, lowering himself to the deck easily.

"I would prefer to get this underway as soon as possible really." Lancaster had said. "You two have had the most experience with these jewels. Hold on..." Lancaster froze mid-stride. "Didn't you have a friend?"

"He's not joining us. Claustrophobic it seems."

"Not a place for that here to be frank." The Commander said. "Lab is in the central unit down this hall. It's a small ship. I think you will find it easy enough. I have to be on the bridge; excuse me."

Lancaster moved quickly down the corridor while Miles and I made our way to the lab. Lancaster was correct – this _was_ a small ship, which meant we found the lab in a little over a minute. It was labelled as the Primary Science Lab. We stepped inside of a sterile white environment. Displays hung on the walls, and tables of instruments were before us. A shaky looking man approached us.

"Um... excuse me, but who are you?"

"Acorn and Prower." I had simply said. "You knew we would be coming?"

"We would? Oh yes! We would!" He gave a small smile. "Dr... Wellington Stone. I'm the uh, Senior Scientist aboard this ship. These people here are Doctor Mercer and Dr. Cossack."

"You're late." Dr. Mercer said. Right away, I didn't like her.

"She's stressed, don't mind her." Dr. Stone said. "What you will mind though... is this." The shaky doctor pointed to what looked like a storage container in the center of the room. I had seen it when I came in but I didn't ask of it. Now I knew what was inside.

Dr. Stone typed in a code on the box, and it folded away in quick motion. Miles said something that I couldn't hear. Inside was a single floating purple-glowing jewel that rotated in the air. A Chaos Emerald.

However, this one looked different. It was... misshapen. It didn't look like one of the regular Emeralds. It was stretched at both ends that came to a point.

Miles was up in an instant. He had brought a special camera that he took pictures with. It wasn't just a photographing tool. It could sense heat, density, and chemical composition. He could learn all about this jewel in a matter of seconds. Despite that, we spent an hour looking it over and questioning the scientists about it. They found it in the rings of the planet while they were scanning them. It surprised them at first as they had, and still have no idea what it is. That's what we were here for. But this thing was something else. It was the same, but different.

The deck rumbled. Stone said that they were doing some course corrections and that there was nothing to be worried about.

Looking at it now, I can say with some degree of certainty that it was not just a course correction.

Ten minutes later, the engines ignited. I know this was not normal since a lot of us were thrown off balance. If that didn't tell me, it was the panicked response that came over the intercom.

"_Attention! Attention! All hands make for reentry positions! Repeat! Brace for emergency reentry!_"

Stone said this was wrong. There was no scheduled landing. He called up the bridge.

"What's happening, Ethan?"

"_We're falling out of the sky! Orbit's degrading rapidly!_"

My heart froze. I looked at Miles with wide eyes. He gave me an equally horrified look.

"Stop the engines! Fire in reverse!" Stone ordered. Dr. Mercer began to breathe heavily while Dr. Cossack was already looking for a safe place to sit.

"_We can't communicate with the engines!_" Lancaster reported. "_We're slowing too fast!_"

"I'll head to the engine room!" Tails announced getting up. I placed a hand on his shoulder. "No. Stay. Keep in contact with me. I'm heading back there!"

"Are we going to be OK?" He asked softly.

"Just find a seat and strap in. I don't know, kiddo."

I was off. I sprinted out of the lab towards the rear of he ship. Ferell was heading up the same way as me. He spotted me. "What's going on?!"

"We're entering the atmosphere!"

"With Gloria on the outside?! She'll get torn off!" His voice had concern that only a pilot could have for their aircraft. "Can we save the ship?"

"Don't know!" I said. "Head for engine room! Best place we can check!" I looked around for a moment. "Where's Stevens?"

"I don't know." He said softly. He then started running. "Engine room! Now!"

Captain Ferell lead me to the back of the ship. When we tried to access the door, it wouldn't move. Ferell groaned and tried to use a manual override for the door which worked, sliding it open.

The engine room was a mess. Alarms were blaring and a pair of technicians ran around jumping from computer to engine component yelling and swearing at each other. We talked to one of them, Bolen was his name. The other was Marceau.

"You want to help? Try to help me manually direct these jets!"

"Can we save the ship?" Ferell repeated.

Bolen looked at a monitor which showed a diagram of the planet, the atmosphere, and our position, which was skittering above the upper later. He looked at us, face impassive. "We can try to soften the impact."

So that was it then.

We were going down.

"Can the _Othello _try to pick us up?" Ferell asked. "An emergency cross deck?"

"At this altitude? Are you crazy? We'll be putting both ships in danger! You... what's your name." He was talking to me. "Get on the port valves and give me a three quarter turn. You, flyboy, do the same on the right." As we went to our assigned locations, Bolen said, "COMs are out anyway. _Othello_ can't hear us."

Engines locked out, dropping into the atmosphere burning hot, and deafened? I believe Chris had a word for this situation:

Clusterfuck.

I heard a nasty retching sound that sounded like metal separating from metal and a bang at the same time. I hoped to God it didn't mean that we split in two.

"What was that?!" Marceau screamed in horror.

"Gloria." Ferell said sadly. "She's gone."

Turns out it got worse. We were sent into a tumble because the dropship messed with our approach vector. It getting torn off was not the worst thing that could have happened because the damage was already done. We were not trying to get back in orbit. That ship sailed the instant I had to run back here. Now it was no longer a question of if, but when we crashed and how fast.

I tried to turn the valve with all my might. Another constant rumble was on. According to Bolen, we had just activated our maneuvering RCS jets.

"Good! Great! We can stabilize our descent!"

A console sparked and shorted out before exploding. Marceau was blasted into the air, killed instantly in the explosion. His body never hit the ground though.

"We're in free-fall!" Bolen noted. We were all weightless. My heart was pounding a tattoo against my ribs. This would make my job exponentially harder. I tried not to look at Marceau's shredded body.

"_Engine room! What's your status?!_" Lancaster blared over the intercom.

"ArtGrav is gone sir! Marceau's dead!" He glared at the monitor. "We're bleeding velocity, but I'm estimating impact at over three hundred meters per second!"

"_Unacceptable, mister!_"

"Maybe you want to come back here and do it then! There's no stopping this ship!"

"_Get us stabilizers, NOW!_"

"Aye, Captain! Follow me!" He pointed to me and pulled himself to another console at the front of the engine room. "Port and starboard stabilizers. Hit them and maybe we can get ourselves a bit of lift!" Bolen pushed himself off and went to his console to monitor. "OK, hit them now!"

I tapped the command that showed two wing-like appendages spread out on the side of the ship. Bolen cursed in happiness. It was something anyway.

"Commander, stabilizers deployed! You're flying by wire sir!

"_Copy that! Trying to pull up!_"

I held on tight and waited to fall back down to the floor. However, I heard the door open first. I turned to see who it was and cried out in shock. Tails had come back here to help since he didn't hear from us. He had no idea what was to happen next.

"MILES NO!"

He looked at me not knowing what he did wrong, and in a split second he knew what would come.

The stabilizers failed. The port wing snapped off and was torn away. The _Currie _was sent into a dizzying combination of a corkscrew and a nosedive. Miles was thrown against the door frame and screamed in pain before being thrown down the hall. I was holding on for dear life, not knowing what that really meant anymore. Ferell was looking equally concerned holding on to a pipe. Bolen seemed quite well braced, but Marceau's corpse was bouncing off the walls violently.

I was thinking of Sonic at that moment actually. I couldn't know what he was thinking, but I was sure that he was standing at a window looking helplessly at us as we became a lance of fire stabbing at the side of the planet. I bet he was screaming at Topaz to let him take a dropship or anything. He would be desperately pleading to do _something._

But I know this time there was nothing that he could do. Not for all his self-confidence and strength. He couldn't save the people he cared about the most. I think that's what made me the sad above all else.

Then I saw Chris. A vision of him. I half expected him to say something, recite some military BS that would help us survive this cartwheel into hell, but there was nothing. He gave a smile though and I found that comforting. I know that many people see loved ones before they die.

I hoped today wasn't going to be that day.

Ow, it hurts thinking about this...

Then we hit the ground. A mountain actually. We bounced off a terrace going nearly four hundred meters per second, somehow skipping off the ground. I was still holding on when the second impact came about, this time throwing me free and slamming against a wall. A third impact came about which knocked me to the floor... the wall actually, and one final slam knocked me unconscious. I thought I was dead.

Made sense, because we had just landed in hell.


	103. Entry 103: April 3rd, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>Date: April 3, 3235<p>

Entry Made 1132 hours

Dear Journal,

Austin's dead.

The crash... The crash wasn't the worst of it. Not by a long shot. As a matter of fact, the crash was probably the only thing that we had some degree of control over. For that there was physics, models, and at least a good guess about what we were going to do next.

Then we crashed.

I was out a good long while. According to Bolen, who woke me up, we had all been unconscious the better part of twelve hours at least. I woke up splayed across a wall, or perhaps it was the ceiling. I couldn't tell. However, I remember that there was a fire blazing not too far from me. Part of my cheek fur was singed off. I can kind of feel my skin a little bit. I hit my head hard too. I was extremely lucky I didn't get anything more than a moderate to severe headache.

Tails has a broken arm. I remember before we crashed he hurt it on a door frame. We knew it was broken when we first saw it, but we lost the casts, so some of the crew made a makeshift sling until we find something that can really help.

Cossack's dead, Marceau, Jones the security chief is dead too. Jones died in the crash of a broken neck. Austin though... he didn't die in the crash. Not right away.

I don't know where he was, but I found him in some maintenance tunnel, probably trying to survive the worst of it. He was there for some time. When we crashed... oh Jesus, he was impaled by part of the superstructure. He had been trying to call for help for hours when we found him, barely alive.

It hurts to remember his words, but this is what he said, as best as I can remember:

"Is Stevens OK?" He coughed this, blood already dry on his lips.

She came at that. She cried at the sight. Stevens was bloodied up but seemed otherwise able-bodied. A long cut stretched from her shoulder to the side of her abdomen, cutting through her flight suit. It was bleeding, but not too badly.

"Captain!" She barely made out.

He looked at her a long time, but then said in a voice barely there, "Hey kid." a smile crossed his face. "Looks like you made it. I don't..."

He didn't finish. I looked and saw his eyes half closed and jaw slack. Dead. As Stevens started to cry, I punched a wall panel with surprising strength. I dented it. I felt bad for her. She lost a person she looked up to. I then realized that Ferell had clung on to life long enough just to make sure Lola was alive. Then I started to cry a little too, but mopped it up to give the image that I was the commander I needed to be. There was no way to get him out. I reached in to close his eyes and take the tags off his neck. I handed them to Stevens, whose ears drooped a bit deeper. After staring at them with absolute sadness, she got a hold of herself, looked at me, nodded, and then placed them in her right breast pocket.

"We're outside." she said. "The survivors."

"How many?" I asked, dreading to hear the numbers.

"Seven." She turned and left at saying this. She clearly wanted to leave this hallway behind, and so did I. The place smelled of sulfur, ozone, and death. I could smell a few things better than the Humans. Finding my feet, surprisingly dizzy, I looked one more time at Ferell's broken body and left.

I didn't even know the names of the other two people that died. They were part of the flight crew on the bridge. I should have at least cared to look, but that was surprisingly secondary compared to my own desire to get out of the crashed ship. Bolen was still around.

"It's all fucked! No way in Hell we're getting off the ground again let alone upright!"

Upright? We were flipped? By Mobius, how did any of us survive?

"How fucked are we?" I asked

"Royally fucked." He said, then giving a rasp of a laugh. "Sorry."

"It's fine." I stumbled, grabbing what I think was a wall for support. Hell, I didn't even know anymore. The surface beneath my feet I was calling the floor was angled and dark. Emergency lights blinked. I smelled smoke which probably meant fire, but at the same time I felt biting cold.

"Follow me, Highness." Bolen had advised, and he slowly walked down the incline. "We're outside. We brought everyone we could. Alive, or otherwise."

I constantly felt cold, but it got worse and worse as time went on. I shivered, which was saying something when a coat of fur was supposed to keep you warm. Finally, I saw the hole in the hull. Hole was an understatement though. This was a gash nearly fifty feet across that cut perpendicular through compartments. The ship had split in two and the front end had bounced a bit further than the rear. Fires were spread along the ground, but the air was so cold that barely any melting occurred. Immediately, snowflakes stung my eyes. I covered them with my hand to protect myself. My breath hung in the air as it steamed as soon as it left my lips.

Miles came running up to me, but his arm was wrapped up in an emergency cast. He wore frosted goggles and a parka, probably taken from a storage locked somewhere. His face was as frozen as the landscape. He looked at me for about a second, then broke down crying, hugging me with his good arm. He buried his head in my chest, sobbing nearly uncontrollably.

"I thought I was going to die."

"I thought I was too. You didn't find anybody dead, did you?"

"They brought some out." He said quietly.

"Where?" I instantly asked. I pulled him off me.

"Up ahead, not far from the engines." He sniffed. "We're stranded, aren't we? We can't get the ship to lift off."

"Don't say that just yet. Come on."

Bolen and Stevens joined us as we made our way to the meeting point. I saw two forms lying on the ground covered by what I believed was a tarp. It was stained through with blood. Sharp pieces of metal were hammered through the tarp which kept the sheet on top of the corpses.

There were also some people standing, clearly alive, and one sitting down against the blackened hull of the _Currie_ wearing a command cap. One turned to see us. Copper was alive, along with Dr. Stone, Dr. Mercer, two Marines acting as security personnel, and Commander Lancaster. He was alive, but hurt too. His leg was torn and bleeding. Someone tied a makeshift tourniquet to stem the blood flow, but he needed medical attention.

Dr. Stone waved us over. He shivered, but spoke clearly: "We thought we lost more souls. Thank heavens you're alright, Highness."

"Where's the pilot?" Mercer asked.

"Dead." Stevens responded. "He just died."

"Lord in Heaven." Stone breathed.

"He and they will go on to their next lives." Bolen said. "It's not too bad." He tilted his head sadly at the figures under the tarps.

"Do you believe in Hinduism?"

"No, I follow the Triad, Gevadim's Truth."

"Believe what you want to believe." Copper said crossing his arms and shaking his head in sadness. "But nobody would have survived what they went through. Got whatever I could get out here. It'll have to be a closed casket for these poor bastards."

"Who were they?" I asked.

Lancaster pointed to the one on the left. "That one is... Hertzold... Logan. The one on the right's name is Osaka Ourihime. They... served under me for four years."

It was horrible. Not a single death needed to happen, and I felt the impact of every single one. We were downright somber from the crash. Tails in particular. He sat quiet in the snow, watching some of the fire flare. Just then, I remembered that there had been something particularly important in the ship.

"The Emerald!" I realized.

Dr. Stone and Dr. Mercer looked up at this. They too suddenly seemed to remember this. Dr. Stone rushed back into the crashed ship fearing the worst. A Marine went in with him claiming to be protection for him.

"No, no! I don't need protection from this!"

He jumped back into the ship through a tear in the hull. The Marine flapped his arms once in annoyance. "This guy is going to get on my nerves." he said. I learned later that this Marine's name was Richardson, and the second, a dark skinned man, was named Benoit. Neither of them seemed to be keen on sharing their first names with me. We waited a bit longer in the cold. Dr. Mercer paced impatiently, saying that she wanted to go inside and pull him out. I could see her shaking and it had nothing to do with the cold. She likely saw Dr. Cossack die in the crash.

Miles was still silent and unmoving sitting in the snow, only rubbing his broken arm in the cast.

Dr. Stone re-emerged. "I've got it! I've got it!" He held a container in his hands that seemed untouched by the crash. "This is made out of starship-grade plating!" He said with a surprising level of enthusiasm for a man who walked away from a spaceship crash. "Take no chances!" He twisted what looked like a combination lock and popped the lid. A hiss of air escaped into the thinner atmosphere of TB-44110b, and nestling inside the padded interior was the Chaos Emerald without a scratch on it. It made me curious but at the same time angry that the only thing that survived without blemish was this damned jewel.

Copper looked at it as his eyes widened and his ears perked. "So that's what one looks like." he looked to Dr. Stone. "So, um... who's carrying it?"

I snapped, "I will."

Dr. Stone surrendered the jewel at once without question. I clipped the container onto my tattered but still intact utility belt. Some of the other crew looked at me with suspicion. The reason would be clear soon. I told Dr. Stone to ensure that his research was still alright. He nodded and headed back into the ship again with a slight shiver.

I walked through the chill to check on Commander Lancaster, who nodded at me despite his pain. "He's stable." Dr. Mercer said. "I'm may have a PhD, but I still know how to stop bleeding."

"You did fine." Lancaster said with his muted, but still clear optimistic tone. "Hell of a crash we went through, Acorn."

"We got lucky, sir."

He grimaced as he moved his leg. "Yeah, we got lucky." he tried to smile but it ended up looking like a snarl. "Think I may have gotten a few scratches though."

"You shouldn't be outside." I told him.

"I know, but I needed some alpine air."

"How safe is it to breathe?" I asked Mercer.

"Safe enough. There's a healthy nitrogen/oxygen mix, but there's some organic compounds we couldn't quite nail down. Probably some micro-organisms."

"And we're breathing this shit?" Copper said with anger.

"Relax, Sergeant." Lancaster said with effort. "We're in no danger from dying. As long as I'm still breathing, I'm the commanding officer! Keep your cool, mister!"

"Aye aye, sir." The Mobian Marine said.

Lancaster was quiet for a moment, but then stared at the tarp again. "We can't bury them. We're up in the mountains. Ground's probably as hard as rock."

"So we just leave them?" Richardson asked, clearly distressed about the issue.

"No choice. They stay out here, and whoever's inside stays in there."

"And where do we sleep?" Miles asked, not wanting to sleep with corpses.

"In the Billet." the Commander said. "And we'd better move. Sun's going down fast."

He was right. The sky was already a deep dark purple, but no stars were visible. A large endless-looking cloud was approaching us fast. Snow was falling there. I grabbed Lancaster under one arm and Copper grabbed him under the other.

"Someone see if they can get a radio working! Something had to have survived the crash!" Lancaster ordered. "Call up the _Othello_ and get us some dropships down here ASAP!"

"Sonic!" Miles said. "I forgot about him!"

"We'll tell him we're safe." I reassured the kid. He must have been frantic up there without us.

Before we went back through the hull, Bolen stepped out to meet us and jumped slightly.

"Sorry, Mister Bolen." the Commander said.

"That's OK. Uh... we have a problem, people."

"What?" Copper asked.

Bolen held up a datapad and sighed. "I just did an emergency diagnostic on the engine and checked the operation logs." he paused for a beat. "The engines firing? That wasn't an accident. Someone deorbited us on purpose. It was sabotage."

::END ENTRY::


	104. Entry 104: April 4th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn  
>April 4th, 3235<p>

Entry Made 0110 (1:10 AM)

Dear Journal,

It's a strange feeling knowing that you're potentially sharing a fire with a homicidal maniac. That first night was cold, and it wasn't just because of the sub-zero temperatures. We didn't have very much in the way of kindling, and the trees were quite far away, so the only choice we had for heat was back inside of the ship. The creaking remains of the _Currie_ felt haunted as we spent the first night in there. A small fire had formed in a compartment. It was the result of a small gas leak that ignited. It was too small to be any harm to us, and what was more, a hole was punched in the ceiling so that some of the excess heat could vent.

We were all sitting in a circle around the flame. I had my hand around Miles' shoulder, pulling him close to my side. We were both hurt, miserable, and missing Sonic, who was still up there somewhere and likely wasn't going to find us. Copper was sitting next to me sharpening his knife on a piece of metal. Stevens looked just as somber as us. The security Marines were impassive, Bolen was praying to his pendant, and the Commander merely braced on his bad leg.

Nobody said anything for almost two hours. Finally, it was Commander Lancaster who finally spoke.

"The recent revelation is something that disturbs me to say the least. The fact that one of us at this fire very well could have been the one that stranded us here enrages me." He grimaced as he clutched his leg.

"The saboteur could have gone down in the crash." Copper suggested. "Maybe he's not here."

"Or she." Bolen suggested.

Stevens seemed to get upset. "Are you trying to say something to me?"

"No, I'm..." Bolen started to say.

"Because if you would like to make an accusation, please speak up! I didn't sabotage anything! I wasn't even on the ship for long!"

"Maybe it was Ferrell." Jones, the security chief said. "Seems everyone lost sight of him. Come to think of it..." He started to glance towards me. "Everything was going well before you two came on board."

"Excuse me?" I was shocked and angered by the words. "Are you saying that _I _was the one who sabotaged the ship?"

"The fox is smart." Benoit noted. "He could have done it."

Tails shouted then, "Yeah, well Bolen's the engineer! He knows the ship better than anyone!"

"Miles!" I cried out. "Stop that now!"

"How come she gets to carry the jewel?" Mercer asked. "We're the ones that found it."

"That's enough! Everybody!" Lancaster raised his voice, cutting short because of the pain. "What's the matter with you?! You're all professionals! You'd better damn well act like it!"

"There's a professional here, all right." Richardson breathed.

Silence for another 30 minutes. We all just looked at the flames, and then we looked at each other. In that moment, we all despised one another. They hated me just by looking at me. They hated each other, and they hated the Emerald. I could feel it.

Doctor Stone spoke next. "Well now, it is getting a bit late. Perhaps I could suggest that we get some sleep?"

"What and let Copper cut my throat in the night?" Richardson said, face impassive.

Copper was personally insulted. He threw his knife on the ground and got to his feet. "You know what, fuck you buddy! You want to fight right now?"

We had already started yelling on our own, but Richardson keep speaking. "Yeah! Maybe I do! Maybe I think you're the worm that just killed all of us!"

"Not 'us', just 'you'." Copper said, flexing his muscles mere inches away from the Marine's face.

"Better take a freshener; you've got dog breath."

Before it came to blows, we pulled the men apart.

"SILENCE!" Lancaster screamed with authority. We all stopped what we were doing and looked at the Commander. He looked like he was going to get up, but fell on his side. Bolen ran to him and helped him to his feet. "Thank you, Edgar." He looked at us. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves! Saboteur or not we're still stranded on this miserable frozen world, and until we manage to get in touch with the _Othello_, nobody lays a hand on anybody, lest I kick your asses myself with my good foot! I don't care if any of you get any sleep tonight, but I'm going to bed! When I wake up, we start moving. I don't think I'm well. Remember: even though you may feel yourselves executioners, I am still the judge. Remember that."

With that, Lancaster found a soft fluffy part of metal and set his head down, nodding off easily. Most of us though? We didn't dare close our eyes. I think some of us were afraid that we weren't going to wake up again. I know I didn't want to even rest for a moment. The adrenaline was still coursing through my blood anyway. I couldn't have slept if I wanted to anyway. Miles decided to sleep an hour later. I couldn't say that I blamed him. One arm was behind his head, trying to serve as a cushion of sorts. The other was in its makeshift sling of torn fabric. He would need medical attention for sure. But we didn't have anybody here that could work with his injuries.

Bolen decided to speak shortly after midnight as he was staring into the fire.

"So, suppose that one of us _is_ the saboteur." He let a silence sit for a second in case anybody wanted to jump in. Nobody did, so he continued. "Well, what would he or she want? Escape?"

"I don't think he wanted any of us to live." Jones suggested. "A crash like that usually leaves a whole crew dead."

Dr. Stone spoke next. He had his back up against a wall as he sat. "Well, if I were one of them, I'd set my sights on something. Think, everyone: we're a science ship, and a bloody unimportant one at that."

"Important enough to have us crash on this miserable rock." Mercer countered.

"Precisely." Stone nodded. "The question is why. If I were a betting man, I would say that it's in the hands of Her Highness right now."

The whole group turned towards me. I knew right away that he was talking about the Chaos Emerald.

"She got what she came for." Benoit muttered. "Damn convenient."

"What don't you get?" Copper said again, rising to my defense. "She's our Princess! Her family is honorable and always sought to use the Emeralds for good! She'd never betray us. I would lay down my life for her if need be!"

I swelled with pride at his words. They meant the world to me right now.

"That goes double for me." Stevens added. "I may be a UNSC serviceman, but I was born in Knothole first!"

"I'm thinking you need to calm down, Benoit." Jones said reclining. "You're going to do something stupid if you keep acting like that."

Richardson kept to himself, but I kept on feeling his eyes on me, judging me and listening to his friend. I could tell that some of these men didn't like me at all.

I didn't even close my eyes for another four hours. I felt dizzy, perhaps caused by a concussion or something similar to that nature. Maybe it was the stress or the fact I was finally burned out. Regardless, for those four hours I looked into space, only rarely did I look at the others. The two Marines Richardson and Benoit were awake, but so was Doctor Stone. He was up and pacing around, looking at the ruined remains of the ship.

"What a waste of money." he finally said, shaking his head in a disappointed manner. "I've been on ten ships and four stations. I was always impressed with the _Currie_ though. I stayed here the longest." he didn't seem to be talking to anybody in particular, but I was the one who spoke.

"If it helps, Doctor, I've been in some tough situations too."

He seemed to chuckle and look at me. "No offense, Highness, but forgive me if I seem to be inclined to believe you live the good life."

"Normally you'd be right. But I've taken my fair share of hits too." I pulled up my shirt far enough to show what remained of my wound I took on the Flying Factory. The injury was healed over for the most part, but there would always be some degree of scar tissue. "I got this one year ago. My armor saved me from most of the shock, but some of the round still punched through. I had a good medic though."

Richardson looked at the deck plating. "I never really took a shot before." he said. I believed that it was something of a trial by fire with soldiers. Sometimes battle wounds were a sign of respect. To an outside observer, it seemed like an archaic and outdated symbol of gaining prestige, but to one who has spent time fighting, like I had, it meant something else that an outsider could never understand. This was even true before I even joined up with the UNSC. Every single time the Freedom Fighters entered Robotropolis or any area with Robotnik's taint, there was always the risk of injury, and we did get hurt from time to time.

"You don't really feel it." I told him. Then I shrugged. "Not at first anyway. It hurts like hell after you realize it though." I began to have a few doubts then that Richardson could have been the saboteur. Someone who showed something of an aversion, or in his case shame, of being untouched in battle didn't suggest that he was the one who sabotaged the engine. The method and the personality didn't mesh. One off the list.

"Personally I find fighting detestable." Stone cut in. "We should be saving the world, not destroying it."

"You don't know about that man who once held our world under his thumb."

He sighed. "No, but I imagine he was a charming individual with the tone of voice you used." He continued to pace. "Regardless though, I became a scientist because I loved this world we live in. I could never bring myself to raise a gun, point it at another living creature, and pull the trigger.

"Well, that's what we're here for, huh Doc?" Benoit joked.

"Funny." Stone smirked. "When you have a doctorate, you see the world differently. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us." Stone routed around in some of the intact drawers and cabinets and found what looked like a laptop pad. He flipped it over and saw that it was meant to be held comfortably on the lap. He decided to use that as a makeshift pillow. "Sorry, I have a bad neck." he pointed out.

"Sure." Benoit nodded. Dr. Stone laid down and dozed off. He then stood to walk. I stood with him. "What?" the Marine asked. "I'm taking a piss!"

"I'll go with you." I said, not trusting him for a second.

"What?" He asked, a little disgusted. "You want to hold my hand or something?"

"No, I just don't trust you."

"Well shit, by all means. We can spell each other's names!"

Benoit seemed shifty, but that may have been because I was actively suspecting him. I can imagine he wasn't too fond of me either. He was taken aback for sure, that much was clear. Eventually he got up and went anyway. True to my word, I followed him.

"Could you not stand so close?" He asked.

"As long as I can see you."

"Well, maybe I should start following you around!

"By all means."

The outside of the craft was absolutely freezing. I thought frostbite was going to set in at any second. I packed my arms in to try and conserve enough heat, but it was clear that there was going to be some damage if I stayed out here for too long. The ring was slightly lit up above us, which slightly obscured some of the stars.

I didn't look at Benoit. I didn't need to watch him _all _the time, and I don't think writing each other's name was necessary. However, the time out here was slightly beneficial since I could still get a good look at the environment via _ringlight. _It felt slightly thinking that, but it was as bright as a full moon out there. We'd landed on some sort of plateau. Below us was a bowl-shaped valley with a set of mountains in the far distance. There was probably some mountain pass given the space between the two peaks. Maybe it would be smart to head in that direction, but then again, it seemed like a couple days walk, and in this weather, in the night-time especially, cover was something that was essential to us, otherwise we would seriously die.

And I wasn't going to go out on a rock like this. Even Tears of Piety was preferable.

Benoit finished up and walked back inside, looking seriously pissed at something, pardon the pun.

"What's the matter? Frostbite?"

"Up yours, furry."

I considered kicking his ass, but I decided it could wait until later. Before I went back inside the ship, something caught my eye. I squinted and looked. Near the base of one of the mountains, I saw a blinking light of sorts. It definitely wasn't a reflection or a trick of the ring. It was timed, repeating. A strobe light! That meant something man-made! I'd be sure to talk about it in the morning. Satisfied, I followed the cursing-under-his-breath Benoit back inside, and finally got some shut eye.

Morning came quickly. I probably only got an hour or two of sleep. Soon the sun was rising and I was shook awake by Tails, who nudged my shoulder with his good hand. No dreams that I could remember. I even slept on my stomach like the stories said. I was up instantly though and saw how the rest of the survivors were scrubbing the sleep out of their eyes. I walked to Lancaster who was laying on his back. He was expecting me.

"Sir, dd you sleep well?"

"Considering that my ass is numb from the cold metal deck on a... oh, thirty degree angle, pretty well!" He smiled, making the best of a bad situation. "And you?"

"Barely slept."

"The emerald?" he asked. I tapped my pouch to show him, and myself, that it was still there safe and sound.

"I did some late night scouting over the surrounding area."

His brow furrowed. "You mean you went outside? At night? It's -40 out there!"

"I know, but Commander, I saw something out there last night. I think it was a building."

He doubted me at first, looking at me with a cocked eyebrow. "A building? Highness, we're in the Arctic Circle for sure. Nobody lives up here. They're all clustered around the equator.

"I know what I saw. It was a strobe light right at the base of the far mountains!"

"Jones, help me up." the Commander said. "Wellington, come here; get my other arm."

The two men dragged Lancaster to his feet. He showed visible pain from his hurt leg, but I knew that he wanted to see for himself what was out there for us. Slowly they brought him through the ship's torn corridors and out into the cold morning. We all shuddered. There was a wind cutting through the valley. It wasn't comfortable standing outside especially with our injuries. We all struggled to look for the strobes.

"I _saw _it." I assured the man who looked at me with inquisitive, yet questioning eyes. This was not the time to break my trust with these people. However, Lancaster looked once more, squinting his eyes. Whether this was because of pain or not I was unsure. But he spoke later.

"Ah, I see it! I see it!" He grinned. "It's a building! Perhaps even UNSC. Thank God."

"Don't thank him just yet, sir." Jones said. "That's a good three days walk at the very least. No traffic either. Maybe they just left the lights on.

I was about to speak up about how that was a possibility, but unlikely, something else caught my eye very quickly. A black cloud was rising from a point not far from us. That was only a few hours walk, I thought. That was strange. I never noticed it before. Still, it was hard to see without binoculars. I heard Stevens gasp in a way like her heart had ripped in two.

"What is it?" Miles asked.

"It's Gloria." she choked. It seemed somewhere close to a sob even. "She must have come down after us. Looks like she managed to get some lift though and wheeled around. Oh poor girl."

The Freedom Fighters had a jet that carries us around Mobius, but I don't think we ever got as emotionally invested as Lola Stevens with this aircraft. In truth I felt terrible for her.

She took a deep breath and steadied herself. Then however, a light seemed to go off and her eyes brightened. "Oh God! I hope our luck can be stretched a bit!" She turned to Lancaster. "Commander, requesting permission to leave the camp for Gloria."

"Why?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"UNSC Pelican dropships generally carry a survival kit in case of crash landings. If we're lucky, there's three DMRs waiting in a secure locker with three magazines each. One for the pilot, one for the Crew Chief, and one for the Co-pilot. There may even be some working electronics in there!"

Lancaster started breathing heavy. He nodded enthusiastically. "Permission granted, Airman. Princess, you're with Stevens. I want Copper and Richardson to go with you. Be careful though. It's still incredibly cold there."

Copper spoke: "There may be a few jackets in there as well. Probably a portable heater too."

"Don't get my hopes up." Richardson groaned.

Technically speaking, I was the highest ranked among our group, but Copper wore the bars of a First Lieutenant, which meant he was giving the orders. "Stevens, take point." he said.

"With pleasure, sir. Come on, the sooner we get to that dropship the better." she said.

From there, we were off. We didn't know it at the time, but things were about to get that much colder on this rock.

::END ENTRY::


	105. Entry 105: April 4th, 3235 PT2

Journal of Sally Acorn

April 4th, 3235

Entry Made 0311 (3:11 AM)

LOCAL TIME ANALYSIS COMPLETE

Local Time (TBMT) 0447 (4:47 AM)

Dear Journal,

I should be resting. I'm not feeling so good from today, yesterday, what does it matter? It feels like it's been forever, and I know our food isn't going to last that long. In addition to my head, my arm feels like it's nearly been dislocated. I wish we had a medic, but we're going to have to take a raincheck on that one.

Gloria was indeed a few hours walk away from us right in the open. It was an amazing stretch of luck to have that dropship land that close. We've been hitting every note just right over the past couple of days, but luck has a habit of running out just when you need it the most. Stevens, Richardson, Copper, and Myself had left the crashed remains of the _Currie_. We were making our way down the snow-covered hill and already I was missing the relative warmness of the ship. I wanted to go back, but I knew that we needed some way to hunt some food or at the very least offer some protection. I didn't trust that the saboteur wouldn't take the opportunity to attack us.

Another thought popped into my mind that I was not happy to think about: what if the saboteur was working with another person, like it was a team effort. Think of it this way: the saboteur could have initially worked to bring the _Currie_ down onto the planet, possibly killing most if not all of the crew. Then, the second person would be able to find the remains and collect the Chaos Emerald from the wreckage, literally from our cold dead fingers. The one-two nature of it all made the inside of my mouth dry, because if it were true, it meant that _someone else was watching us right now_ and was just waiting. Once again, assuming that my theory here is true, that means things have not gone to plan, as there are still people alive here. A bump in the road.

But if that's true, why haven't they just killed us?

They'd probably let the cold do it for them. Jesus it's freezing out here. If I didn't need to go get the weapons from Gloria, then I would be inside the still-warm hull of the _Currie. _I keep wondering what the _Othello_'s doing in orbit. I wonder if they're looking for us. I wonder if they're going to send down people. The storm moving in is getting closer and closer. We may need to spend the night at Gloria.

But I didn't even get to the best part yet.

The dropship was buried a few hours walk, but that walk took quite a bit longer since the snow on the ground was very powdery, which meant that we were sinking our feet in and dragging them most of the way. I can understand why Lancaster sent us. He thought that perhaps we had a bit more of a natural defense to the cold with our fur and all, but it's not a big help. It's that cold out here. It's making my teeth chatter and my eyes sting. I'm going to catch pneumonia for sure. I was already coughing.

The sun was impossible to see. It was probably too far away anyway. However, we were slowly edging closer and closer. Richardson was not looking good though. I don't know why the Commander sent him. He was looking frailer by the minute.

"Hey, you alright?" I asked him.

He refused to answer, but kept on sniffling.

"Richardson!" I called again. He seemed to pause for a beat but kept walking.

"What?" he sniffled.

"You squared away?" I asked, speaking his language.

"What the hell do you think?" He said, shouting into the wind. He was taking point, but I jogged through the powder trying to keep pace. "I'm freezing my balls off, frostbite on my fingers, stuck on this god-forsaken planet and I'm probably going to die here. Given I survived the crash, I'm feeling pretty horrible." He gave a grim smile to nobody in particular. "I hear you feel pretty warm before you freeze to death!"

"Isn't that just a myth though?" Copper called out.

"I hope not." Richardson bellowed against the wind. "I'm starting to feel numb."

Stevens seemed much more together than we were about this. She had her flight suit on which functioned kind of like an insulated body-glove. The pair of coveralls that she wore functioned as a kind of basic space suit since parts of it could seal in upon itself in case she needed to eject from her craft.

"Stevens, how are you?" Copper called out.

"I'll live, sir!" she responded. "Suit's holding up fine for now. Ears are feeling pretty cold though.

Mobian ears in theory help radiate heat from the body similar to our Terran ancestors. What's weird though is that we have sweat glands too. While odd, it makes us fairly efficient in high heated environments. However, in cold ones, like the plains of TB-44110b, it could be a death sentence if not done right. My ears are fairly small, but Stevens' were flopping in her makeshift pony-tail.

We didn't speak again until we got closer to the dropship.

"Oh my poor baby." Stevens said, looking positively distraught.

"How long did you fly her for?" I asked.

"Not long. Since the day I transferred over from RAF." she chattered. "She was my first real bird. I was only in a navigator positions on the J-2s."

I nodded. Those were twin-seated recon-craft. Only a small cannon on the front, no other weaponry. They were developed as spy planes and recon craft, typically for use against Overlanders, and even the Nova Kanadans.

"I loved that ship." she continued. "I flew her, tuned her up, buffed out the dents, and I even tucked her in."

"What?"Richardson asked, confused.

"I did the end of flight spin downs." Lola explained. "Made sure she was settled into her gantry."

Stevens' emotional investment to this dropship was curious and a bit embarrassing to hear to tell the truth. I'm aware that pilots have an amazing attachment to their ships. Tails is incredibly fond of the Tornado, his own creation, and like Stevens, he treats it like it was his own child. I don't think I would get that close to a machine. Not that I wouldn't, but I probably can't given Robotnik. However, I could be wrong of course. I may name by next car or something like that. But right now though, none of that seemed to matter as we got close enough now to see the detail on what was left of the hull. It was stained black by the reentry heat and several panels were torn away, including some of the back rudders. The nose of the craft seemed intact, but a good part of the troop bay seemed incredibly smashed. Stevens made her way to the craft and embraced it.

"Oh Gloria." she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"You want a minute?" Richardson asked, starting to look a bit blue now in the cold. What the hell was Lancaster thinking sending him? He could have died out there.

He could have died...

Sorry, but that last bit is starting to look very... wrong now that I look at it.

I'll make sure to keep this journal only to myself and Miles. I don't want people stealing things. I'll set another password on it just to be sure.

"Let her grieve, Private." Copper advised. "It's like losing a sister to her."

We let Lola have her few minutes. She stood and bowed her head in what I assumed was a prayer. She didn't make a cross sign though, which meant she may have been a practicing member for the Church of the Ancients. The group I informally belonged to.

I tested that. "Who did you call upon?"

She looked at me with wide eyes. She knew that I had heard her. Perhaps she was surprised that I knew of the workings of the Church. "I... called upon my Namesakes. The spirit of my family's caretakers."

"Do you think they hear?" I asked.

"Out here?" she glanced at the alien sky. "I don't even know. But I need their strength now more than ever."

I clapped a hand on her shoulder. "They'll watch over us like they always do."

She sighed. "I hope you're right." She shifted her eyes. "There's a hole in the hull here. Come on in. Might not be the warmest though."

She was right. It was quite cold in the troop bay with a huge part of the wall torn away. The wind was less of an issue, but our breaths hung in front of us in the lopsided bay. Empty supply crates were torn and strewn across the floor.

"What a mess." I muttered. "I hope that the guns survived."

Stevens walked up to the airtight door separating the bay from the cockpit. It naturally didn't open so she called for Copper to help. The Lieutenant took a few deep breaths and pulled at the door with Stevens assisting him. It was iced over, which meant that it was difficult to move and painful to hold onto for more than a while. Eventually though, the ice splintered and the door budged.

"Gotcha you son of a bitch." Copper growled in victory.

I nodded in approval, but I glanced over at Richardson. He seemed dazed and confused.

"You alright?" I shook him.

He didn't respond right away. He was shivering greatly. He seemed to be staring into space for a moment before he caught my gaze. "What?" he asked, obliviously.

"Are you OK?"

He rattled and wiped away some mucus that was dripping out of his nose. I could swear I saw blood too. Not good. I ordered Richardson to get inside. He didn't even argue. The freezing Marine hobbled into the cockpit and sat in the seat, looking out of the amazingly still-intact windshield.

He sniffled. "Hey, never thought I'd get behind the wheel of this thing." He made what sounded like laughter. Stevens gave him a pitiful smile. Despite being a jerk at times, we really saw that Richardson would not last much longer out here.

"We can't go back." I said, looking at the man who seemingly did not hear us. "We have to stay with him."

"Negative, Highness." Copper countered. "We were given an assignment by the commander. I don't want to keep them waiting."

I wanted to argue with Copper for that, but Stevens seemed to find something attached to a wall panel.

"Paydirt!" She crowed. A huge smile crossed her face. In her hands was a gun half as long as she was. It was slender, but had a menacing looking barrel, and a carrying handle on the top. The stock was already extended, and at that point she yanked back on the charging handle, creating a sharp clacking noise. The weapon was ready to fire.

"Three ROC-7s." she explained passing one to me and another to Copper. "They're looking for good homes."

I hefted the gun and looked it over in my hands. The weight was good. The magazine was small, but the bullets looked like they were designed to fly over a long range. Makes me wonder just how much had changed over a year. I wouldn't have used this gun back then. Now, I can barely part from one. Things really do change.

There was nothing for Richardson. His fingers were too numb for him to hold anything, and he was shaking so much that there was no way he could keep it straight. I heard a noise. It was loud and close. Not the wind; that was for sure. We all heard it. Copper racked his own weapon slide. "Stay here, I'm taking a look.

I never noticed then that Stevens had found some survival jackets and a flare gun underneath the cockpit panels. Richardson was barely conscious so she must have slipped one over his shoulders.

The Lieutenant leaned out and pointed the ROC-7 around the corners, cheek glued to the rest on the back of the weapon. He didn't seem affected by the fast winds now and his eyes only showed concentration. Stevens joined us and pointed her DMR out of the ruined troop bay.

That's when it attacked... from behind us.

It smashed open the weaker windshield and dragged Richardson out, but he didn't even scream. I don't even know if he was conscious or aware. I whipped around and cried out, pulling the trigger three times. The DMR barked thrice and sent the bullets spinning into this creature. It was big, wolf-like in basic shape, but its head had no eyes, four nostrils, and a large, toothy mouth that held an unconscious Marine by his knee. The bullets I fired struck it in the pit where the eye would be. Bright red blood gushed out of the wounds and made it double over in pain. Richardson was dropped at once into the powder. The other two fired a burst too which hit it not far from where I had aimed. By the time Copper's third volley ended, the creature had decided to give up and fall on its face. Moments later it tried to move in a puddle of its own blood, it died, leaving Richardson loose. Stevens jumped out of the ruined canopy and tore her arm on a shard of the strengthened material. She threw down her gun and knelt by the Marine. He was shaking violently. His leg was torn badly by the bite, and Copper looked mortified. I followed his gaze and saw that his leg was bleeding badly.

"It got an artery." he whispered.

Stevens looked at me for some sort of guidance. "What do we do?" She asked, looking frightened. "He'll die!"

I ran back into the dropship looking for anything that looked like it would stem bleeding. I tore a length of cable from a console and ran back out, fashioning it into a tourniquet. It stopped the bleeding, but not greatly. I was about to go back in, but then he started sniffling. Richardson looked at me with tears freezing on his face.

"Am I going to die?" he said after steadying himself.

He was drained. The snow was stained red, and the cable wasn't doing as good a job as I thought. I jumped back into the ship and searched for something, anything. Anything that would save his life. Stevens had torn off the hood of the jacket and used it as a way to soak up the blood. I searched and searched, but there was nothing. No medical supplies. They were torn from their fastenings in the walls. Any syringes of biofoam were shattered. I started to panic. Copper left to come to me. He tried to get my attention but I didn't hear him. He grew louder and louder until he grabbed my arm and held me. I only realized then that I had been breathing heavily, bordering on panting.

"We can't do it." he said after looking at me square in the eye. "He's not going to make it."

No. I couldn't accept it. I couldn't accept losing another person. I tried to tear myself away from Copper's powerful grip, but he held me steady.

"Let him go."

Richardson's last moments were of fear. We had tried to take parts of our own clothing to stem the flow of blood, but we couldn't. The creature had torn through many blood vessels. It wasn't a matter of if he bled out, but when. Soon, the Marine was as white as the snow around him, and the shivering stopped. He only looked towards the sky, mouthing, but not making any sounds. We sat in guilt, waiting for the inevitable. I hated myself. I wanted to be back on the _Othello_. I wanted to be off this planet. But Sonic wouldn't understand. I needed to talk to someone else. Someone who I now think I share more in common with, and it pierces my heart twice thinking about it.

Going on twenty three minutes, Richardson spoke: "You know... I don't feel so bad."

Three minutes later, he stopped breathing. Nobody moved, and nobody made a sound. We simply looked at the body, wondering just what had happened and what was going to happen to the rest of us. Copper tore off Richardson's dog tags and stuffed them in his pocket. He then closed the dead Marine's eyes which were half-open. I still said nothing, but buried my face in my hands. I then wanted to see what had killed him. We all seemed to be realizing it for the first time.

The creature was... different. It scared me for some reason. I am reminded of my expedition on Brunaji months ago when I look at this creature. It was larger than a lion and seemed to have some physical similarities. It had a tail, a mane, and a fuzzy body, but that's where it all ended. It had no eyes, which meant it didn't see through light. Body heat I guessed, which was why it was easy to find us.

But its mouth was out of a horror story. Extended and wide. It was filled with folding teeth like a snake's, and it's tongue was forked, which smelled the scent of it's prey. It obviously found the taste of a Human quite nourishing. I kicked it. I kicked it with everything that I had and it didn't even budge. Copper looked at me, disapprovingly for my over-emotion, but he looked like he wanted to join me.

We couldn't leave him here. We couldn't just let him freeze solid in the ice and the snow.

But all I could think of among it all, I voiced to them.

"What if they think we killed him?"


	106. Entry 106: April 5th, 3235

Journal of Sally Acorn

April 5th, 3235

Entry Made 1130 (11:30 AM)/1306 TBMT

Dear Journal,

They were silent for a while. I was hoping to give them some sort of lighthearted conversation about the whole ordeal, but then I realized that we were down one man, and parts of our clothing were stained in Richardson's blood. The walk back was a lonely and solemn one even though I had two Mobians along for the hike. I couldn't bear to look Copper in the eye and Stevens looked like she was going to cry. Indeed whenever she turned to look at me, there were frozen traces of tears on her face that she wiped away. It was tragically poetic, but it also meant that the temperature was low enough to freeze saline liquid. Even though she was on the verge of breaking down herself, she gripped the rifle's carrying handle tightly and trudged on. I had to say something, but she said it first.

"I've never seen anybody die before like that."

"Never?" I asked her.

"No. You never see stuff like that from the air."

"Get used to it, kid." Copper said soft enough to still be heard. "We're soldiers. We see people die. It's our job."

"But he looked so scared. He was frightened."

"He was blissful at the end. Blood loss can be a comforting thing." Copper acknowledged. "Better than most people take it."

Then we were quiet again. The wind had picked up, but we draped our survival jackets over our shoulders. We now had enough to cover everyone. We couldn't bring Richardson back with us, so we did our best to just cover him with snow and ice so that it was a sort of shallow grave that hopefully would serve its purpose well enough. Hopefully it would freeze over and become some forgotten tomb.

The wind started to pick up. Snow was being dragged across the loose surface of the plains. I thought that maybe our footsteps would be covered, but they were still clearly visible, punched into the frozen cover of packed fluff. We were able to follow them easily. The sun was starting to set quickly and for a brief moment the thin rings above the planet seemed to flare, reflecting the light.

"Wow." Stevens said. "Look at that." she said, suddenly breathless. "Who wouldn't want to see _that_ every night?"

"I'd like it if I wasn't freezing to death, Airman." Copper growled. "We can take pictures later."

I didn't add because I was thinking. I was thinking about how Copper held me back. Was there a way to save Richardson? The Femoral Artery was indeed severed, but Humans HAD to have something that could save a man who was bleeding out. Maybe if we just tried...

But it didn't matter. Richardson would always be dead. A jerk as he was, he was still a person who would never again see their homeworld.

About two hours later we arrived at the ship. We had followed the still present smoke from the wreck, though it was clear there was snow that was heading our way. When we were climbing back up to the plateau where the _Currie _slammed down, a few snowflakes had started to drift from the heavens. I had a strangely off-topic thought about alien snowflakes and what they would look like on another planet when looked at up close. Would it be possible to find two identical snowflakes now?

But I banished that strange thought. Someone was on their feet, and looking, I saw it was Miles from the gentle whipping of the tails and the fact that his arm was wrapped in a cast. He was smiling at first, but then his grin dropped as soon as he saw the state of us – bloody, cold, and miserable. He switched from me to Stevens, who likely still had some frozen tears on her cheeks. Then he saw the blood on our clothes.

"Wh... where's Richarson?" he asked.

Nobody said a single thing, and that seemed to communicate well enough.

"But... but how?"

Copper reached into his pocket and showed what he brought with us. It was a single tooth that was stained with the Marine's blood. "Something attacked us." he explained. "Something big and something nasty."

There was the sound of footprints. Benoit jogged out of the wreck of the ship. "So you guys decided to make it... Jesus Christ!" He paled slightly at the sight of us and then said, "Where's Oscar?"

"We lost him." Copper said.

Surprisingly, he cracked a smile at first. "Bullshit! Don't do that to me! Hey O! Get out here, man!"

None of us laughed. Why would we?

Benoit's smile faded slowly until his own mouth dropped. "No, no, he's not!" He saw our clothing, coupled with the tooth from the creature. Benoit covered his face with his hand. "Goddamn it! God _damn_ it!"

It was clear Benoit was quite upset about his friend dying, although I don't even try to convey the true emotion of seeing a person go out like that. "He was at peace." I told him, though I am not sure if he even believed it.

"You didn't leave him there, did you?"Benoit interrogated. "Please tell me you brought his body back!"

"The son of a bitch was frozen to the ground when he bled out." Copper said with all the delicateness of an atom bomb. "He wasn't coming back. We did bury him though."

Benoit had run out of things to say and leaned up against the now cold hull of the _Currie_. "I served with that man for four years, you know. We hopped ships together."

"I understand." I told him, "And I'm sorry." If anything it was supposed to placate him. I did feel for him though. From there, we went to the Commander who seemed awfully sickly looking. We repeated exactly what we said before. He sat with his legs wrapped in an old lab coat. It was jerked at an odd angle and was stained through with blood.

"So, you were the last one to see Richardson alive?" Mercer asked. "And now he's dead?"

"That's true." I said through now gritted teeth. What was she suggesting exactly?"

"And you have some beast's tooth that you just happened to pick up?"

Dr. Stone looked incredulous. "Evelyn, surely you're not suggesting that they... killed him?!"

Commander Lancaster's eyes whipped at that. "Excuse me?!" he bellowed. "_Excuse me?!_ I hope you're not accusing them of _murder!_"

Mercer folded her hands behind her back. "I am not accusing anybody of anything Commander. I am merely expressing an educated guess."

Copper seemed to snap a little. I moved too quickly grabbing his arm. Stevens grabbed the other. "_We didn't kill him you little poindexter snake!_" His eyes were wide, his teeth were bared, and it was as if some of that feral ancestral rage surfaced. We held Copper tightly though.

"Come on, John!" I said. "Snap out of it, man!

Copper seemed like he was going off the deep end. Stevens and I held onto him as he was screaming and cursing at Mercer. She looked like she was enjoying it. For a moment, I wanted to smack that smug smile off her face.

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Lancaster finally said. We froze. Even Copper stopped his screaming and looked at the Commander, lying against the wall with his leg bloody and rather sick looking. "YOU'RE PROFESSIONALS FOR CHRIST'S SAKE! Lieutenant Copper... you will _not_, under _any_ circumstances even consider harming another member of this crew! Is that understood Lieutenant?"

Copper growled, and seemed to be doing so at Lancaster.

"You don't have to like me, mister. You will follow my orders and I am ordering you to put those GODDAMN TEETH AWAY!" Lancaster's face was red from rage and reflection from the still burning flame in the far side of the room. The fuel hadn't run out yet so it made the area rather warm and wouldn't burn the place down either. Until it exploded anyway. The Commander was still in charge, and John felt it. He relented, and then his shoulders slouched. "Are we clear Lieutenant?"

"Aye, sir." he finally breathed.

"And you." Lancaster turned, now looking at Mercer. "Keep your bigotry in check, Doctor. You don't get to insult my officers."

"Keep my _what_?!" Dr. Mercer asked incredulously.

Lancaster did not let her finish. "Report on your findings." he asked us. "Did you see anything on the way?"

"Aside from our initial noting of an abandoned base out there, not much. Seems like a solid wasteland." Stevens reported. Now that we have some weapons, we can make that trek if necessary. There are some monsters out there."

"Monsters?" Jones asked. "The thing that killed Richardson?"

"Like a wolf." I said. "No eyes, big mane, and teeth like this." I held up the incisor-looking piece of proof I brought.

The Navy personnel shivered, and it wasn't because of the cold.

Lancaster licked his lips. "You think there's medicine at that base?"

"Why do you ask?" I answered.

He uncovered his leg to show the extent of the damage. The bleeding stopped but there was a nasty wound up the side which itself was surrounded by bruises; yellow, green and purple splotches on his bare skin. Stevens looked away. It was a common Mobian reaction to bruises, as fur usually covers it unless you were one of the thin-haired varieties.

"I think... there's something that's... infected the wound." He groaned thinking of it. "Something in the air. Not frostbite."

I instinctively looked at Miles who was cradling his broken arm in the quick cast. His eyes were wide and looking at me. "I... didn't want to look. I think it's a native creature or parasite."

Dr. Stone hung his head. "Unfortunately, Dr. Cossack was the biologist on board, and he's not willing to talk to us at the moment."

Copper gave the suggestion to move at dawn. I agreed with him. This frozen Aurora-forsaken wasteland was starting to pick us off. The quicker we moved, the greater our chances of survival. I realized I only thought a 'chance' of survival. I'm glad Chris wasn't here because he would have been honest about things, but I wanted Sonic there to give us that boost that we needed. He could help us as well. The Chaos emerald seemed to tug at its container on my pants. It seemed to have a mind of its own, as if to guide us to its own safety. I don't think even _it_ wanted to be left alone on this snowball.

I decided to go see Bolen. He was the only one not present in the ruins of the lab. I asked, and they told me that he was in what was left of engineering and was trying to salvage what was left of life support to keep the temperature tolerable.

"I'm going with you." Benoit said, his voice low and hard as rock.

I didn't argue. I don't think he believed me when I said Richarson was killed by the creature, even with proof of the animal's tooth. Fine. I don't care if he didn't believe me.

We left the labs and the temperature dropped dramatically to just under freezing. There were no icicles forming anywhere, but a thin layer of frost lined the sides of the corridors. Some sparks still jumped from severed wires and sputtered before they even hit the ground. The deck was slanted, and one wrong step would send me and Benoit sliding down the hall. He walked behind me in an obvious means to keep the person he perceived as a threat in his vision at all times. When I turned, I saw his dark eyes boring into mine. He wanted to hurt me for something he believed was true. I didn't try to placate him. There was no point. Unless he was there, he couldn't know.

I took a wrong turn at the way to the engine room and accidentally stumbled across Ferell's body. It was startling because I didn't expect it, but also because I thought it was Bolen at first. Thankfully I was wrong, but it churned my stomach to see him again.

He was still slightly lifted off his feet, and was still staring intently at the opposite wall. A thin layer of frost had formed on his skin, which was taking on a very pale look. Decomposition hadn't set in yet, and probably never would given the environment. He was a frozen mummy.

"Jesus." Benoit muttered under his breath and a slight puff in the air followed that. We rushed away quickly and found our way in Engineering. Bolen was whacking a control console as he tried to coerce it into working.

"Come on my beautiful lady. Come on. You're a little bruised, but I think you're still pretty." He walked over to a row of manual controls. He pulled and twisted them, and somewhere within the bowels of the _Currie_'s corpse, something lit up and a low rumbling filled the engine room. Bolen leaned in and kissed the machinery. "I love you." He turned around with a smile, saw us both, and then wiped it from his face. "Oh." was all he said before clearing his throat. "I managed to get some of the heating working again. Not easy but it should last a few..." he looked at my shirt and pants. "Jesus, what happened to you?"

"Long story, but I'll cut to the chase. Richardson's dead." I said without emotion now. Benoit shuffled next to me.

"Can't say I'm, going to miss him." Bolen said bobbing his eyebrows. "No offence, but he was a bit of an ass to me and... Marceu over there." He pointed to a tarp thrown over a prone form. "Kind of pushed us around and gave us a hard time."

Benoit bit his tongue. I noticed that he wasn't going to say anything right now. I kept my own eye on him and subconsciously tugged on the Emerald's container.

"Commander says we're ready to go by dawn."

"I just got the heating repaired." He said fanning his arms. They were quite hairy so perhaps he would have a natural defense against the cold. I think Humans were much harrier in the past. "Ah, fine. I just hope we enjoy this last night here."

"We appreciate it." I worked up a small smile with my willpower.

That night, we sat in the same circle, minus one of course. Jones was smoking a cigarette deep in thought. The smoke curled from the stick of tobacco and was slowly rising out of the hole in the hull into the cold air outside of the ship. A few brave snowflakes dipped into the area, but were soon dissolved in the now warm air. Miles sat next to me in his parka still cradling his arm.

"It can't hurt that much." I told him.

"It aches a bit more now. It feels kind of hollow."

"Hollow?" I asked him.

"Yeah like..."

"Like it's rotting from the inside out." Lancaster finished.

Tails stopped, rubbed his arm and looked as if he would say something. He opened his mouth, swallowed, closed it and nodded.

"He's got it too." the Commander sighed sadly. "Whatever got me, this parasite or illness. I think it only attacks necrotic tissue or open wounds."

Even more reason to get out of this place. For all I knew, this was some life form that was upset we invaded their territory, or perhaps it was something in the air that was doing this. One way or another, this was going to be a long night for all of us.

We nibbled on our MRE, a few pitiful strips of freeze-dried nutrients that survived the crash. It tasted like ground concrete but it would ensure we wouldn't starve to death. Benoit still kept a death glare on me throughout the night.

"So... anybody want to own up?" Jones finally said. "Anybody want to come out and say it? Hmm?"

Noboy answered. I didn't say anything, the doctors didn't, not even Commander Lancaster said anything.

"Nobody wants to say 'I downed the ship and plan to stab you all in the back'?"

"See..." Dr. Stone said. "How do we know that the saboteur actually wants to... you know... kill us?"

"We don't." Lancaster added. "All they may want is to be extracted from the area and go on their own way."

"Or maybe they'll slit our throats in the night." Copper suggested.

"Shut up." Lancaster pointed. "Don't give anybody ideas."

"I'm just saying..."

"You're saying nothing John. You're saying too much. If you don't want a few eyes pointed in your direction, you'd better shut your mouth and keep in line."

"I hope you're not suggestion that _I'm_ the saboteur." Copper added passive aggressively.

"I'm saying that any one of us could be him or her. Richardson was just as likely a candidate."

"That doesn't make any sense." Benoit said. "Copper's a big guy."

"..._And?_" The Lieutenant asked, showing a bit more hot temper.

"_And I don't know what went on at that dropship. I'm saying, you big brute, that you and your friends could be in on it_!"

Copper pounced. He moved with the speed of a man fueled by adrenaline and unfiltered rage. Benoit was caught off guard by the blow and soon found himself on the floor. Copper threw a punch at Benoit. The man's head snapped to the side. Benoit seemed to want to say something, but Copper alternated his punch, causing some blood to leak from the downed Marine's nose.

Before anything else could happen, a shot rang out. My ears screeched from the suddenness. Tails yelped and stumbled. Copper froze, and looked at his chest to see if he had been shot, which was a soldier's first reaction. It turned out nobody had been shot, but Lancaster had somehow gotten ahold of one of the DMRs and fired a shot out the hole in the ceiling. He looked positively furious gripping the gun in one hand and his leg in the other. I couldn't even meet his eyes.

Despite the ring of the gunshot in the room, he waited for the reverberation to quiet and then he spoke evenly. "Now, everyone listen to me, and listen well. I will not repeat this." He leveled the gun and gripped it with the second hand, grimacing in pain as he did so. "We've lost six men and women already. I am not letting this crew become divided. There will be no more fights. You will settle your differences like civilized people and will go about our duties. If punches fly, I will give you one warning. If they happen again, you will be shot."

I wondered if Lancaster had gone crazy right there and then, but one look at his eyes told me he was being absolutely serious. He didn't lower the gun, but instead trained it over everyone, even the scientists and the pacifist Dr. Stone.

"I will hold no prejudice. Nobody will receive special treatment, that includes you Doctor Stone," he indicated the scientist. "as well as you, Mister Prower."

Tails looked as if he was going to faint. I stepped forward. "Commander, he's just a kid."

"A kid who's just as capable as holding a weapon as yourself, Sergeant Major."

"He won't hurt anyone." I argued.

"So I won't have to shoot him then."

There was no pity. How had this happened? How had Lancaster's own personality turned on a dime like that? I answered that by realizing that he now saw the very real possibility of never making it off this planet as well as the equally real possibility of our crew turning on itself.

"You two." he indicated Copper and Benoit now looking rather sullen. "Play nicely, or else someone's getting buried by a glacier."

Nobody added. We were all scared straight by this.

"Lights out. Acorn, Stone, take first watch. We move out at dawn."

I grabbed a gun and made my way with Dr. Stone to the opening of the ship with a jacket on each of us. Everyone else had lain on their side, but many of them did not dare close their eyes. Tails looked at me with nothing but absolute terror in his face. He would likely wish that Sonic was there to protect him. Even from here I could see him blink rapidly – a prelude to the tears. Miles was a strong kid, but he had his limits.

"You know what I don't understand?" Stone asked me once we sat down. "I wonder if that's what he's really like, and the trim and proper thing's just the ruse."

My ear twitched. "Lancaster?"

"Yeah." he replied, nodding.

"You've known him for years."

"Ah but do you really know that person?" the scientist shook his head. "I believe he smacked his head a bit in the crash. Now he's become a full-blown dictator."

"He's the captain of the ship." I told him. "I trust him."

"Caesar trusted Brutus."

"Bad example. Brutus was actually Caesar's friend, and maybe his illegitimate son."

He raised an eyebrow at that. I don't know if he even expected me to catch the reference. Plenty of Shakespeare survived the Lost Million you know.

"Well the point still stands that perhaps the people you trust may not be on your side in the end."

"What are you saying, Doctor?" I prodded, glaring out at the night. The snowflakes were tumbling rapidly now. It may be possible that we could have a whiteout in the morning.

"I'm speaking as a scientist. Keep your mind open. Consider everything. Who stands to gain the most from that little miracle on your belt?"

I glanced down at the Emerald container. Stone's face was sheepish. "Plenty of us right? But remember who has the gun and the power here."

I knocked the ROC-7 on the snowy precipice. "All I know right now is that I'm the one with the gun."

I didn't sleep the rest of that night. I may have closed my eyes but my mind didn't wander. The ever-present threat of the saboteur kept me awake. I still had the container on my belt, and I kept the DMR close by. All the same though, I lived in fear of the possibility of a knife coming to slit my throat or stab me right through the head. Would I feel it, or would I go limp right away? Even worse, what if someone else died in the night and what if they blamed it on me?

Sorry, whenever I think about this whole mess my head flares up again. I think I have a concussion for sure.

The next morning was a somber one. Lancaster rallied us up quickly and quietly. Bolen had stripped some insulation from the hull that we could use as some makeshift coats We also used some tarp as a sled-like contraption to bear the Commander who was unfit to walk. We could drag him though. Miles could walk, but not much more than that. I had a gun, Stevens had one, and Lancaster ordered Benoit armed. Copper protested, but the order was given. The Lieutenant surrendered his weapon with hatred in his eyes.

I didn't trust Benoit, but why was that? Why did I trust Copper instead? Was it because he was a Mobian?

Maybe it was, and I'm ashamed I have to admit that as a possibility.

Before we moved out, we stopped before the grave markers of Hertzold, Ourihime, and the now-moved Marceau and Cossack, who were now under their own tarps. Ferell could not be moved from his site. Four blue tarps fluttered in the strong wind, but their occupants would be forever still and protected against the gusts and ice.

"Lieutenant, help me up." Lancaster asked Copper. John walked over and held out his arm for the Commander to grab. The man stumbled at first, but Stevens propped him up on the other side. "Thank you." He cleared his throat, and then spoke these words:

"We are gathered here today at the foot of the wreck of this great ship, the UNSC _Currie_, to celebrate the lives and the sacrifices of Logan Hertzold, Osaka Ourihime, Vladislav Cossack, Bernard Marceau, Austin Ferell, and Oscar Richardson. We know that some have called this great ship their home. We know that some of them were not part of her crew, but we took them on in open arms and willing hearts. We know that disaster has struck and has taken the lives of these poor men and women, and we know that there is a gulf in our hearts that will never be filled again from this loss. We ask that their souls be at peace and will never be forgotten. We will ensure that they will receive proper burials and that their families will bring them back to the worlds of their birth. These men and women of action, of science, and our friends will always be in our hearts, and in our memories, and although we leave them now, we know that perhaps one day we will all see each other once more, and that we will continue to serve our homeworlds, Earth, and the UNSC even after our lives have ended. Whether there is a God watching or not, we hope that we will receive guidance. Send them, and us, back home. SALUTE!"

My arm shot up. Everyone snapped to attention, unmoving. Miles simply stood tall, his arm being in a sling. The scientists had their arms straight, fingers at their temple. Commander Lancaster stood solemnly as he was holding onto Stevens and Copper for support.

Silence on the wind. Nothing but the screeching of the cold air and the icy snow on our faces. Nothing broke our vigil though as we waited. Six minutes in the cold for six lives lost. It was poetic, but not the smartest thing to do as we were slowly losing body heat, despite the foil-like insulation. Humans are odd, but very relatable creatures, and honor above all else drives their military. Camaraderie, even in death is something heartwarming to see.

Lancaster spoke. "That's it for us. Sleep tight people. I... relieve you of duty." He didn't say anything else as he was lowered into the tarp and was dragged along the snow. We all moved at once, never looking back at the wreck. It was behind us now. I pulled back on the charging lever of the ROC-7 and made sure there was a bullet in the chamber. Good, there was. I let the bolt back, and clicked on the safety. I didn't want to see those monsters again, but I think it was a certainty by that point that this was not going to be a brief walk.

::END ENTRY::


End file.
